Hi,
Given that the mapkit doesn't provide forward geocoding functionality today, can anyone provide help on how I can i use a search bar to return a latitude and longitude coordinate from a user inputted address today. If someone can provide sample code that would be great.
Zap
There is no such functionality in MapKit. The best you can do is to call a third party web service. Google has some APIs to do this and so had Yahoo I think. Both have restrictions on commercial use though, so read the agreement.
It's a known issue with the current version of MapKit. File a bugreport and dupe #6628720 so they make fixing it a priority.
In the meantime, there are forward Geocoding APIs from Google Maps, via Yahoo Placemaker, or Cloudmade.
I've created a forward gecoding API for Googles geocoding server. Check out my blogpost: http://blog.sallarp.com/ipad-iphone-forward-geocoding-api-google/