The Open Source U

I’ve been wanting to learn how to develop iPhone applications for a while… Basically since the platform hit the streets. I found out the hard way that you need a Intel based Mac OS X computer to do so.

That left me out in the cold because I didn’t want to buy a Mac Computer just to do this, but I did. I bought a MacBook because I wanted a laptop. On a side note, I love the computer. The hardware is much better than Dell (whose been sliding on the quality of their hardware) and furthermore, Mac OS X is very, very elegant.

Anyway, I dived in to the iPhone SDK with the hopes of getting my first program out the door quickly. While I was able to get programs together and working, the platform is very, very different. To top it all off, the programming language is Objective-C which is quite different from any other language I’ve used.

Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK

I was up to the challenge but I needed help, so I recruited a book. The book is: Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK by Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche.

The book was wonderful; I read it cover to cover in about 1 month. There are a few typos but I’m sure they’ll be corrected in a revision release, I’m sure. It is easy to read and easy to follow. I feel I understand everything the book was trying to tell us about. The authors go in to each topic enough for you to understand what they are talking about but they never go so far that they “lose you”.

A wonderful aspect is that their is an active forum to answer questions specifically about your work or learning in the book. Since others have gone though the capture, other readers can normally hep. Though, if all else fails, the authors will help you.

This book won’t make you a master iPhone developer, but it lays a very solid foundation in which to build your skills upon.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about developing iPhone or iPod touch applications.