Reviews for Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK

1. Excellent book

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, April 12nd, 2010

   Excellent book, it drives the reader along all the way from zero knowledge, to what is needed in order to implement a complete iPhone application.
   It enables to grasp all the basics, from a single source, in a clear style. A must-read.

2. A good starting point

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, April 12nd, 2010

   This really does start at the basics, and quickly explains things, including keyboard shortcuts and the like, to get you up and running developing user interfaces and simple applications for the iPhone.
   
   When you first come to develop for the iPhone, you'll find it's rather different from what you're used to, and this guides you through those first baby steps, literally step by step. It stops to explain each piece of code that it asks you to put in, and then, having explained exactly what to do and why the first time, it then introduces the keyboard shortcuts that will speed things up, and doesn't keep explaining the same thing again and again.
   
   The style is easy to read, and while Objective-C was an unfamiliar syntax at first, I quickly got a feel for why I needed to do things - it explained why something was added to the interface, why I needed a @synthesize keyword, when I need to allocate and release objects, and so on. It also explained alternative ways of doing things where they aren't used there but may be preferable in certain circumstances.
   
   It's not really designed as a reference guide - it's designed as a series of tutorials to guide you through setting up various types of views, and with that aim it works very well, managing to introduce memory management elements without making it seem arcane and scary, which is an improvement over what the C++ books I'd previously read managed. It doesn't make a big thing of what's C, and what's specifically Objective-C. If you're more comfortable with C, C++, Java or C# then some of the syntax would be familiar, some unfamiliar, and better explanation of the more Smalltalk style pieces would be useful, but it's a minor complaint for what is a very good book for getting to grips with the basics.

3. Good, but hard to connect the dots for a beginner

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, April 12th, 2010

   I'm a very experienced developer on Microsoft technologies, but as a real starter with Mac development, I touched a Mac for the first time a few days ago. It was hard to follow the initial chapters, because it assumes that you already have some experience with the tools and Objective-C, or in other cases just says to not worry and go ahead because it will be explained later. I would prefer a book with more juice and practical content. I had to get iPhone in Action from Manning and start reading read it from page 150 (SDK programming), only then I was prepared to go back to this book.

4. Good book, but not for beginners...

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2010

   I know that it say's "Beginning iPhone 3 Development", it does but it assumes a working knowledge of Objective C programming. Before buying this book, get a hold of a book that starts you purely on beginning Objective C, then buy this book and sink your teeth into it.
   
   It's well written, clear code examples and fantastic "build your own" sample apps. 100% recommended for anyone starting iPhone development!
   
   Note: This book does not cover any aspects of the iPad.

5. Great Book!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2010

   This is my first book and first guide to SDK for the iPhone. It's a very good entry point to iPhone programming, there is much simple example projects.
   I'd recommend to anyone who wishes to learn.