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Ask HN: Best book to get into iOS and Mac programming?

6 points by AdnanChowdhury ↗ HN
I've been eager to get into learning Cocoa and Objective-C. I do have some basic knowledge on programming because I've worked with Python before. So i was hoping you guys can help me out here with choosing a good book to assist me in Mac/iOS development.

I've been told that the following 2 books are great books to get started:

Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X by Aaron Hillegass (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0321774086)

Programming in Objective-C: Updated for iOS 5 and Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) (Developer's Library) by Stephen G. Kochan http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0321811909

Can you tell me which one you think is 'better'? Feel free to make your own suggestions.

Thanks!

12 comments

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kls
The head first book is good, but the people that I have taught with it, that have had development backgrounds tended to outgrow it's linear approach before they got to the end of the book. That can either be looked at as good or bad, it definitely get's you up and running quick, but it is a poor substitute for a book that can be used as a reference after you learn the platform. I remember reading that one of the books was updated for the new IOS and xCode, which is important because a lot of stuff changed. You can get lost in a tutorial due to the fact that so much has changed. Make sure you either use the old xCode or get a book that covers the new xCode.
rob41
Xcode really has changed in just the last year. So many tutorials can be hard to follow because of the changes.
AdnanChowdhury
Thanks for your response.

I do have some programming knowledge, but I would not want to learn from a book of reference. I would prefer to have a book that explains the programming concepts well and teaches you on how to write good code.

I have looked over several other books but like you said its easy to get lost in tutorials, because of the new Xcode 4.2 and its new features (like ARC).

kls
I can't recommend it because I have not used or even looked at it but the Sam's book is updated for xCode 4.2 http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Application-Development... . A lot of times the Sam's books are good for people like you and I that have development experience, they a fast moving, but they give you the basic's to get you going. I have used other ones to teach with before, but I can't give you a recommendation on this particular one. The user reviews on the second edition are 4 stars on Amazon, so it does have pretty good ratings, I would assume the 3rd edition is just update for the changes to xCode and maybe some tutorials added for the new features in IOS 5.
AdnanChowdhury
Thanks. I'll have a look into this book.

Also, the 2 books that I mentioned are updated for Xcode 4.2 and iOS5.

edatwell
You might want to start with the latest Aaron Hillegass book, which is an intro to Objective-C. It's really intended for folks new to programming, but it works. http://www.bignerdranch.com/book/objective-c_programming_the...
AdnanChowdhury
Thanks for your reply.

I have just recently borrowed this book. I've been skim reading through the first couple of chapters because I understand most of the stuff from my experience with Python.

jsmartonly
Reading document from Apple is the best way to start.

For books, I found the following are very helpful:

1) Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X (by Aaron Hillegass) 2) Cocoa Design Patterns (by Erik M. Buck and Donald A. Yacktman)

AdnanChowdhury
Thanks.

I am looking over the Apple documents now. I haven't come across Cocoa Design Patterns until you mentioned it. It seems like a good book.

jsmartonly
Comparing to C++/Java, I felt that Design Patterns are more tightly integrated with Objective-C. So it is a very important subject to learn in Objective-C, imho.

And that is very good book for this important subject.

Good luck!