Objective-C for IPhone for Java Developers: Books, Sites, Videos?

views:

answers:

+2 Q:

Objective-C for IPhone for Java Developers: Books, Sites, Videos?

[Yes I have seen this question but I do not know C nor C++, otherwise the O'Reilly book would be great. Though some of the answers to the question are helpful]

I do not know C nor C++. I know C#, but only the "managed" stuff. I know Java, but have never dealt with JNI. (I also speak Ruby, PHP, and Basic variants, but that seems to be besides the point).

I would like to learn Objective-C for iPhone development particularly, but I'm coming from "higher-level" languages like Java and C#. Are there any resources that would be a good fit? I would really like something that leverages my existing knowledge and talks in terms of differences between Java (or C#) and Objective-C.

+4 A:

You might find this helpful:

http://www.mecodegoodsomeday.com/ObjectiveCRef.pdf

It outlines some common/useful objective-c syntax/patterns/etc and gives you an idea of how they line up with similar ways of doing things in Java or C++.

Jasarien 2010-02-18 17:19:50

Excuse my ignorance, but what's the 2.0 about? Is that for iPhone 3.x too?

Yar 2010-02-18 17:20:44

The 2.0 is the version of Objective-C - kinda like how Java has Java 1.5 and 1.6 - Also, I updated the link to point to a much better / more informative reference card

Jasarien 2010-02-18 17:23:54

cool the new link actually talks to the question :)... thanks for that and +1. So 2.0 is good for now 2010?

Yar 2010-02-18 17:25:33

Yeah 2.0 is in full use throughout the iPhone frameworks and throughout Mac OS X since 10.5

Jasarien 2010-02-18 17:27:51

not quite "full" use. Notably Garbage Collection is not enabled for iPhone, but it is a big part of Obj-C 2.0

Phil Nash 2010-02-18 17:28:31

@Phil very true, good point. What I meant to say, as I wasn't clear, was that objective-c 2.0 (properties, fast enumeration, etc) is used in almost all iPhone frameworks, - not that the full gamut of ObjC2.0 features are used. My bad.

Jasarien 2010-02-18 17:30:10

@Phil Nash, and that is in fact the cause of my major worrying about yet another language. No GC. Otherwise it would be just another language...

Yar 2010-02-18 17:37:30

@yar It's not as bad as some people would have you believe. But do spend some time learning and internalising the memory management rules. They're not hard - it's more a question of habit. Hillegas' books explain it pretty well: http://www.bignerdranch.com/books

Phil Nash 2010-02-18 17:49:21

+2 A:

How about Learn Objective-C for Java Developers by Apress

Brandon Bodnár 2010-02-18 17:41:08

I will buy it and read it and get back to you.

Yar 2010-02-18 17:46:34

Definitely check out the google preview of it first, or read a little at a book store to make sure that it is along the lines of what you want and that you like the writing style. I normally like the Mac/IPhone Apress books, but sometimes the book just comes off wrong or is prone with errors due to changes in XCode or the SDK.

Brandon Bodnár 2010-02-18 17:48:33

Yeah checked this http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Learn-Objective-C-for-Java-Developers/James-Bucanek/e/9781430223696 gives a nice review, though it might be his girlfriend who wrote it :) Seriously, looks quite nice.

Yar 2010-02-18 17:50:25

for right now, I"m marking this as best answer. This is the best book I think I've read since The Stand by Stephen King in 1987.

Yar 2010-02-19 14:56:14

I would strongly recommend you look into the Satndford University videos online:

http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/drupal/

They don't assume C# knowledge, but they do assume programming knowledge in general. The good thing about this is, you shouldn't attack iPhone development with C# in mind. Each language has its own way of doing things and its own quirks. If you try to write Objective-C code using your C# knowledge and patterns, you'll be screwed. You need to attack it with an open mind, and embrace the differences rather than fight it.

BFree 2010-02-18 17:42:52

Ok, I'll check that out and keep in mind that "there is no spoon." Thanks

Yar 2010-02-18 17:50:59

ACTUALLY the prerequisites are C-programming language, if you read the stuff that the page you recommend links to. While it's true that you need to keep an open mind, leveraging a language that you know to learn a new, different language, is a great strategy that works. I do Ruby like a Rubyist, not like a Java dev, though I learned Ruby using Java. And Spanish from Italian, not English, which would've been annoying...

Yar 2010-02-19 02:06:45

+1 A:

I would recommend Aaron Hillegas' books. Although not specific to a Java or C# frame of mind they cover the material in a friendly, accessible, yet informative and concise way that I think will appeal to people of most programming backgrounds.

I did the iPhone dev presentation for the Stackoverflow DevDays conf. in London - to an audience of about 90% .Net developers. I've put my slides from that presentation online. Not sure how useful they are without the narrative, but you're welcome to take a look.

Phil Nash 2010-02-18 17:53:41

Everything helps at this point, just getting oriented. Thanks!

Yar 2010-02-18 18:05:48

The books are not so great because they're not out yet. Am I missing something?

Yar 2010-02-18 18:07:25

The iPhone book is not out yet, but Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X is, and a large chunk of it, including most of the intro stuff, is completely relevant to iPhone programming.

Phil Nash 2010-02-18 18:14:10

Okay, the problem is that I have no idea what's relevant and not. BTW the presentation is great, the footnotes are like being there.

Yar 2010-02-18 18:15:40

Phil, while I have you here, is slide 22 backwards? shouldn't it be `name = newName`? Otherwise I definitely have some concepts wrong.

Yar 2010-02-18 18:20:20

Wow you're absolutely right! d'oh. Well spotted :-)

Phil Nash 2010-02-18 18:34:06

Historical moment! I've spotted my first bug in Obj-C! Thanks for the dialogue Phil.

Yar 2010-02-18 19:01:27

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

Objective-C for IPhone for Java Developers: Books, Sites, Videos?

related questions