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iOS Programming
This is the third edition of Conway and Hillegass' iOS Programming book, based upon the curriculum used at Hillegass' Big Nerd Ranch training facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The third edition is updated and expanded to cover iOS 5 and Xcode 4.3. In addition to features included in previous editions, the third edition includes coverage of new features, including Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), iCloud integration, and using Storyboards for UI design.
A note on the title: The first edition of iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide was titled iPhone Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. The title was updated for the second edition, to reflect Apple's introduction of the iPad and their renaming of the iPhone operating system.
A note on the title: The first edition of iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide was titled iPhone Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. The title was updated for the second edition, to reflect Apple's introduction of the iPad and their renaming of the iPhone operating system.
590 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2010
191 people are currently reading
567 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
August 13, 2014
This is widely considered one of the go-to books on learning iOS development. For the most part, the authors do a great job of explaining the concepts presented in each chapter...in the beginning of the book. Towards the end, it seems like topics were rushed. In their defense, they did state in the last chapter (the best one IMO) that they didn't go very deep into topics and that we should go deeper when we started our own projects.
One thing people need to know (which I thought was very confidence-building for me) was that in that last chapter they said the good news is that you have the basics to be an iOS developer. The bad news is that you're probably not a very good iOS developer. Bingo! With all the information they presented and all that is out there in Apple's documentation, it's impossible to become fluent in it by following the book. It does provide a good starting point, but it was nice to read that I shouldn't expect to be a hot-shot developer right away, even though I've been writing software for 30+ years.
One other great confidence-builder is that they end most chapters with some challenges (Bronze, Silver, Gold). The Bronze were intended to use things we learned in that chapter and may take 10-30 minutes to do. Silver added content we had learned in earlier chapters. Those may take a bit longer. The Gold you could expect to spend the better part of the day doing. Those challenges (Bronze and a few Silver) gave me the confidence to know that I really did understand some or all of the chapter, even if it felt like I was zipping through with no clue what I was doing.
This will now be a great reference book when I get stuck on topics and concepts while working on my own projects. Plus, I'll be taking BNR's bootcamp in a couple of months which pretty-much goes through the book, but in one week. I'm now armed with questions and curiosities to hash out with the book's author.
One thing people need to know (which I thought was very confidence-building for me) was that in that last chapter they said the good news is that you have the basics to be an iOS developer. The bad news is that you're probably not a very good iOS developer. Bingo! With all the information they presented and all that is out there in Apple's documentation, it's impossible to become fluent in it by following the book. It does provide a good starting point, but it was nice to read that I shouldn't expect to be a hot-shot developer right away, even though I've been writing software for 30+ years.
One other great confidence-builder is that they end most chapters with some challenges (Bronze, Silver, Gold). The Bronze were intended to use things we learned in that chapter and may take 10-30 minutes to do. Silver added content we had learned in earlier chapters. Those may take a bit longer. The Gold you could expect to spend the better part of the day doing. Those challenges (Bronze and a few Silver) gave me the confidence to know that I really did understand some or all of the chapter, even if it felt like I was zipping through with no clue what I was doing.
This will now be a great reference book when I get stuck on topics and concepts while working on my own projects. Plus, I'll be taking BNR's bootcamp in a couple of months which pretty-much goes through the book, but in one week. I'm now armed with questions and curiosities to hash out with the book's author.
May 27, 2018
Will teach you how to become a beginner iOS dev
This book holds your hand while you develop some small apps. It's insightful enough, has code and pictures. It presents basic concepts well.
I'd have loved it if it at least tried to mention what other aspects of being an iOS developer it's skipping.
For example, readig this book will give you no idea about:
-How you write automated tests
-Whether "automated tests" even exist (don't laugh, beginners wouldn't know this)
-What platforms you use for helping test your app on multiple devices
-How you publish your app
-How you use third party libraries
-Whether third party libraries exist at all (don't laugh, a beginner would have no way of guessing this, if learning alone)
-Whether or how code in objective c can interact with code written in Swift
-Whether one has to learn both swift and objective C
-Whether such a thing as a "application architecture" exists
-Where explicitly to get more resources from (oh well, except the Apple documentation that is)
-Where do the pros get their info from? (any podcasts, tweeter handles, subreddits, git repos)
-What are some major popular frameworks used in the ecosystem, and what do they do?
...important aspects in my opinion
Let me also mention the lack of references in the book.
Maybe this book is supposed to be for beginners, but I didn't get that idea from the introduction. Maybe if I knew who this book is and is not for, I would not have purchased this.
My complaint about this book comes from my specific context: I've been programming for 7 years already, and I know the basics of app development. I also know that there are lots of very important things that come after the basics.
If you're looking for more than the basics, this book is not for you.
If you just want a thorough introduction to the Swift language and iOS, I definitely recommend this.
For me personally, it's barely 3 stars, and would not have bought it if I knew it focuses so much on building lots of similar apps, but gives you almost no overview of the iOS development ecosystem
This book holds your hand while you develop some small apps. It's insightful enough, has code and pictures. It presents basic concepts well.
I'd have loved it if it at least tried to mention what other aspects of being an iOS developer it's skipping.
For example, readig this book will give you no idea about:
-How you write automated tests
-Whether "automated tests" even exist (don't laugh, beginners wouldn't know this)
-What platforms you use for helping test your app on multiple devices
-How you publish your app
-How you use third party libraries
-Whether third party libraries exist at all (don't laugh, a beginner would have no way of guessing this, if learning alone)
-Whether or how code in objective c can interact with code written in Swift
-Whether one has to learn both swift and objective C
-Whether such a thing as a "application architecture" exists
-Where explicitly to get more resources from (oh well, except the Apple documentation that is)
-Where do the pros get their info from? (any podcasts, tweeter handles, subreddits, git repos)
-What are some major popular frameworks used in the ecosystem, and what do they do?
...important aspects in my opinion
Let me also mention the lack of references in the book.
Maybe this book is supposed to be for beginners, but I didn't get that idea from the introduction. Maybe if I knew who this book is and is not for, I would not have purchased this.
My complaint about this book comes from my specific context: I've been programming for 7 years already, and I know the basics of app development. I also know that there are lots of very important things that come after the basics.
If you're looking for more than the basics, this book is not for you.
If you just want a thorough introduction to the Swift language and iOS, I definitely recommend this.
For me personally, it's barely 3 stars, and would not have bought it if I knew it focuses so much on building lots of similar apps, but gives you almost no overview of the iOS development ecosystem
December 13, 2010
This is, hands down, the best introduction to language and framework of APIs that I have ever read. Including Aaron Hillegass's Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X. My students and I have been able to puzzle our way pretty deep into Cocoa and the iOS APIs with only the assistance of this book.
February 26, 2017
This book has a big plus other than iOS books that called as challenge. This is my reason for select "The Big Nerd Ranch Guide" because challenges provide hands-on practice after chapters. Otherwise, as a non-american people the language pretty easy but some chapters unclear and concepts were hard to understand, especially Web Services, CollectionViews. But I highly recommend if you are not novice in programming and iOS. This book very fast for learn basic concepts of iOS programming.
March 17, 2013
At about halfway through, I feel like I'm spending more time typing in example code than I am learning things. I'm also finding it a little difficult to extract general lessons out of the specific coding exercises.
I'm going to set this aside and refer back to it as needed.
I'm going to set this aside and refer back to it as needed.
August 14, 2017
Great book that covers a fair amount of breadth and an interesting amount of depth around common iOS components. Probably not worthwhile for non-beginners since the book progresses in a tutorial-style presentation and doesn't serve too well for out-of-the-blue look ups if they haven't read this before. For folks with a bit of iOS experience, working through the book may fill in the knowledge and intent gaps of some things they might have used in the past.
December 28, 2018
Great book to learn from of you prefer text to videos for learning coding.
November 28, 2022
Slso
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2011
A really good introduction to iOS development. The style of this book is very much "learn by example", letting the code speak in place of lengthy explanations. It's a little more wordy than previous books by Hillegaas (a true Objective-C veteran from the NeXTSTEP days), but it's still nicely terse and extremely clear.
The only real requirement before reading this book is some knowledge of C, even superficial, and basic understanding of OOP. Other than that, you're pretty much taken by hand by Hillegaas and Conway across the most important iOS concepts and frameworks. There's even coverage of Core Data, Apple's own ORM system.
I only have 2 complaints: the biggest is that iPad programming is only mentioned in a 5 pages chapter, which does a good job introducing the topic but fails to discuss even the most important iPad-only APIs. The iPad is increasingly important today and I think it deserves more attention. Secondly, UITableView programming could have used a more in-depth look, since it's by far one of the mostuseful UIKit classes (if not the most).
The only real requirement before reading this book is some knowledge of C, even superficial, and basic understanding of OOP. Other than that, you're pretty much taken by hand by Hillegaas and Conway across the most important iOS concepts and frameworks. There's even coverage of Core Data, Apple's own ORM system.
I only have 2 complaints: the biggest is that iPad programming is only mentioned in a 5 pages chapter, which does a good job introducing the topic but fails to discuss even the most important iPad-only APIs. The iPad is increasingly important today and I think it deserves more attention. Secondly, UITableView programming could have used a more in-depth look, since it's by far one of the mostuseful UIKit classes (if not the most).
January 30, 2013
This book worked well for me. It's a lot of 'learning by doing', with completely led exercises. I'm ok with this since just the act of reading, typing and running is a lot of what I need to learn a new language, but I could see how others might not like something as prescriptive.
I have little to judge this by from a technical point of view since I'm new to Objective C and iOS development, but on the plus-side I liked how they erred towards code rather than UI wizards.
There was nothing on unit-testing, which I was disappointed by, nor anything on threading and very little on the bigger iOS environment (e.g. nothing on ad-hoc, or app-store, deployment).
As it was though it was a fast, engaging book and (let's be honest) the first time I've actually finished a software book in a long time.
I have little to judge this by from a technical point of view since I'm new to Objective C and iOS development, but on the plus-side I liked how they erred towards code rather than UI wizards.
There was nothing on unit-testing, which I was disappointed by, nor anything on threading and very little on the bigger iOS environment (e.g. nothing on ad-hoc, or app-store, deployment).
As it was though it was a fast, engaging book and (let's be honest) the first time I've actually finished a software book in a long time.
May 24, 2013
+ broad range of topics
+ lots of material for the price
+ engaging writing style
+ nothing is used that hasn't been explained before
+ every discussed topic gets eplained in detail
+ concepts are introduced when needed
+ practice and theory always go together
+ excellent layout
- the main problem that comes with this approach:
general aspects are heavily intertwined with api specifics,
so it's hard to look them up or learn both separately. if
you wanna get all the precious general advice, you have to
nibble through every part of iOS that you may not care about.
however, if read from start to finish, this is an understandable
and most rewarding read.
+ lots of material for the price
+ engaging writing style
+ nothing is used that hasn't been explained before
+ every discussed topic gets eplained in detail
+ concepts are introduced when needed
+ practice and theory always go together
+ excellent layout
- the main problem that comes with this approach:
general aspects are heavily intertwined with api specifics,
so it's hard to look them up or learn both separately. if
you wanna get all the precious general advice, you have to
nibble through every part of iOS that you may not care about.
however, if read from start to finish, this is an understandable
and most rewarding read.
July 17, 2012
This is a decent introduction to iOS programming. It is intended to be a "hands on" book, leading the reader through examples and concepts. It tries to introduce concepts as needed and not burden the reader with more than is needed at any point in time.
It's a decent intro though probably not worthwhile for intermediate to advanced programmers. Experienced programmers looking for knowledge on Objective C or iOS might find it useful (as I did) but there may be too much of the book that you end up skimming to get to the parts you care about.
It's a decent intro though probably not worthwhile for intermediate to advanced programmers. Experienced programmers looking for knowledge on Objective C or iOS might find it useful (as I did) but there may be too much of the book that you end up skimming to get to the parts you care about.
Read
April 25, 2011I don't have the technical background necessary to do anything with this book, but what I saw was pretty neat. One day I might even be able to come back to it. My husband thought it was interesting just from looking at the cover, and he's the programmer, but he doesn't have time to read it now. Returning it to the library, and considering this one of those "I'm sure I'd like it if I understood it" sort of books. No rating because of this.
February 12, 2012
Good overview. Now I feel ready to get started and build something. I may have to update this review if I find some significant gaps in my knowledge.
Note that as of Feb 2012, the second edition of this book is somewhat out of date. Many of the templates the refer to are no longer in Xcode, and recent features like Storyboards and ARC are not covered at all. I believe the 3rd ed is coming out soon, though.
Note that as of Feb 2012, the second edition of this book is somewhat out of date. Many of the templates the refer to are no longer in Xcode, and recent features like Storyboards and ARC are not covered at all. I believe the 3rd ed is coming out soon, though.
August 13, 2012
I'm not really sure if the whole 'copy all the code and you'll eventually know how to program' really worked for me. The book needs more challenges. Not optional ones at the end of the chapter, but it needs to challenge you while you're reading. I finished it (without doing the optional challenges). I know now where I find stuff in XCode and if things are possible in Obj-C, but I have not learned how to actually do them.
December 19, 2012
i want to read this bookand again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again .
January 2, 2014
It's a good book for novices in iOS development. But I can't recommend it for someone learning it on they own, because of the big changes in new Xcode 5 and iOS SDK 7. Some templates and technologies have changed since the publishing date, and it's not always clear how to match them with the ones in the book.
June 2, 2014
Fantastic book, covers the breadth of the subject, intro to the language, tools, libraries and design patterns. The challenge problems at the end of the chapters are well defined and build on content covered. The forums have good discussions regarding the challenge questions. By the end you have built more then 20 little apps. May be a hard book for new programmers, as there are many concepts.
January 13, 2011
one of the best technical books I've ever read on iphone development. I typed in every line of code in this book, and did all the challenges, and it gave me a solid technical base on Cocoa Touch and iOS in general.
January 2, 2013
Arguably, the best book on iOS programming by its breadth and technical insights: obviously, Joe Conway must have logged a lot of time designing and coding iOS apps. The book really help going through the free online class CS193 (Stanford).
January 1, 2013
Great introduction to iOS programming and Objective-C. I have many years of experience programming in C, C++, and Assembly, although most of that in the 1990s, so this was a very way to dive into iPhone development and get real apps up and running quickly.
February 26, 2013
This is one hell of a book. Its so well written that even a person who is not interested in programming will get excited and would want to read this. The author makes the difficult concepts looks so easy.
March 6, 2013
I don't really like the way BNR teaches. They pretty much explain what to do, then just give you the code to copy word for word. This isn't a good teaching method (for me at least), but this book is invaluable as a reference.
March 29, 2013
disclaimer: I skimmed about half of this book.
This is a huge book, packed with more information than you'll know what to do with. The frickin index is 10% of the entire book. I'll use it as a reference for if/when I need to do some of the advanced topics in here.
This is a huge book, packed with more information than you'll know what to do with. The frickin index is 10% of the entire book. I'll use it as a reference for if/when I need to do some of the advanced topics in here.
May 22, 2014
The definitive book on iOS. everything you need to know about developing for the iPhone or iPad is covered here. It's helpful to have some experience with ObjC before attempting this book but I don't think it's required.
September 1, 2014
Very good so far. Am compiling a list of good (and not-so-good) things as I go through it.
As time passed, decided that the next version of the course would use Swift. So I didn't finish the book. It was pretty good however.
Aurora library.
As time passed, decided that the next version of the course would use Swift. So I didn't finish the book. It was pretty good however.
Aurora library.
May 27, 2010
Really awesome beginners guide. Didn't even know objective c before I started but finished with the knowledge and skills to build a pretty functional app. Nice work.
Read
February 14, 2024Well written with a thoughtful approach to the progressive disclosure.
April 30, 2011
Good Book!
Read
August 10, 2011Good book, really concise and well explained.
Covers most of the "wild" things an eager new iPhone developer could think of.
Recommended.
Covers most of the "wild" things an eager new iPhone developer could think of.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews