Just over a year ago I posted about some
beginning iPhone developer books, and things have changed dramatically since. Since I get e-mails about that old post and whether or not those books are still relevant for learning Objective-C/Cocoa Touch I felt I should update since with so many more choices my perspective has dramatically changed. At that time there were just a few books on the market. Now there seems to be dozens of books targeting beginning iOS developers. Searching for
iPhone development in books on Amazon.com currently yields 200 results.
As time has gone on publishers seem to be trying to one up each other, and the material just gets better and better. I’ve also added a review section where users can submit ratings for various books, that area is fairly new and I haven’t had much time to work on it, but it will be extended in the future. Here’s a breakdown including some of the more recent books for learning iPhone development using Objective-C/Cocoa Touch.
These are the 3 books that stand out:
1)
Big Nerd Ranch: iPhone Programming Guide – This book overall is probably the beginner book that will appeal to the widest range of people. It is extremely well written, deep and covers an extremely wide range of topics. You certainly can’t go wrong with this one. The Big Nerd Ranch is known for quality instruction. (
More in-depth review here)
2)
iPhone For Programmers: An App-Driven Approach – This is a by example type book which I love. If you like learning directly in code you will probably like this book. Some people hate to learn this way and prefer a deeper more theoretical learning experience those people will like the Big Nerd Ranch book better. This book is also a very quick read for a programming book which is something that I also like. (
More in-depth review here)
3)
How To Make An iPhone App – This book is for absolute beginners looking to get their feet wet. This book was created to be accessible for anyone even if they had not programmed before and covers learning Objective-C. It does not cover anything with extreme depth, but rather gets you started teaching you need to know material in a very straightforward manner. Only available as an eBook. (
More in-depth review here)
Conclusion
I’d say that if you have some programming knowledge the Big Nerd Ranch book is the kind of book that most programmers love, and I think it’s a great book. I like to learn more through code and so I personally would prefer the Deitel book. If you’re starting at the absolute beginning How To Make An iPhone App covers learning Objective-C in addition to Cocoa touch and is very straightforward.
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