Learning to make an iPhone App: Entry 2

Time sure flies.  It's already about a month since I wrote entry 1 for Learning to make an iPhone App.  So here's an update.

Done lots of reading, and finally, things are starting to make some sense.  It's certainly not something that can be acquired in a weekend.  Read and re-read these books.  Here are some notes on the books from my reading list.  

Beginning iPhone Development

Though the book expects you to have an understanding of objective-C, it does a great job of explaining how applications on iPhone works.  With the book, using the codes inside, and doing some tinkering, I was actually able to get some simple apps working.  I still didn't have enough knowledge of objective-C to know what's going around.  So I stopped and focused and getting a handle on objective-C.  So I went back  to Programming in Objective-C 2.0 and Learn Objective-C on the Mac.  

This book alone would not be enough for beginners, but it's definitely a must buy for beginners to iPhone.  

Programming in Objective-C 2.0 vs. Learn Objective-C on the Mac.  

Learn Objective-C on the Mac is more fun to read and the tone is more casual, but it requires that you are familiar with the language C.  I decided to pick up Learn C on the Mac, which is part of the series and the primer book for Learn Objective-C on the Mac and Beginning iPhone development.  I skimmed through Learn C on the Mac, returned to Learn Objective-C, but still found it a bit hard to understand.  

I would recommend Programming in Objective-C 2.0 over Learn Objective-C on the Mac.   The tone is more textbook-like, but it is comprehensive.  The nice thing is that it does not assume you know C.  I have this book on Kindle, but I'm thinking of getting the actual book as well.  

Learn C on the Mac

I decided to pick this book up because its author was the same as Beginning iPhone Development, which I really liked.  I also reasoned since objective-C is based on C, having some knowledge of C would better help me understand objective-C.  

First, the book assumes you are a complete beginner and goes through basic programming concepts.  I think it does a nice job of explaining very fundamental concepts.  I particularly like the chapter on parameters and pointers.  I also found the explanation of the #define directive and preprocessor in chapter 8 helpful.  

I recommend this book if you're a beginner.  As it is easy to understand and not as intense.  For me, after I read this book, and then returning to Programming in Objective-C 2.0, things were easier to understand second time around.  

Current Status

I'm currently working my way through Programming in Objective-C 2.0 to get a better grasp of the Foundation Framework.  After that, I will return to Beginning iPhone Development, and plan to take another shot at building some simple apps.  

Hopefully I'll have an entry on my first app soon.  

Lastly, links to the books are in my previous post here if you would like to check out the books.