Understanding the iBookstore/iTunes coding logic

Question

I'm still pretty new to Objective -C and iPhone development and am trying to understand an effect that is seen in the iBook Store and in iTunes. Please take a look at the Apple Announces iPad Part 3 beginning around 3:30 - you will see Steve tap a book, it enlarges as it flips around and displays information about the book, purchasing details et al.

In another example, when Steve demoes iTunes - part 1 of the video set at (20.15s), tapping on an album flips around the cover art, enlarges it and brings up the list of songs.

The animations shouldn't be a problem, but I'm trying to figure out how this is actually put together. Am I correct in assuming that each thumbnail/album is simply an imageview that is switched out for another view while the main view remains visible in the background. What are the best practices for having multiple subviews laid out in a grid like this, where users can tap and get more info, bring up an interactive subview then tap back to return?

Since there are thousands of books, I am thinking the subviews have to be generated somehow based on the contents of a .plist file for example. You would also have to generate the appropriate position for it to be drawn on screen. Am I over-complicating things?

Thanks for any insight or help

Answer 1

Do you have an Apple Developer ID? There is a lot of information there that would answer your question. Most of what you describe though, I believe is handled by Core Animation within the iPhoneOS. If you can access the Apple Developer Connection, have a look at The Core Animation Programming Guide.