Complete NOOB Here, Need help from anyone with experience!

[Rocketman919]

I know, i know, there have been tons of threads with people wanting to start developing. I want exact answers for these questions.

1. How do i begin? I was thinking of Learning C first and then transferring over to Obj C once i was ready.

2. Best book for Learning C? I was thinking about getting the Absolute Beginners Guide to C (http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Beginners-Guide-Other-Sams/dp/0672305100/ref=pd_cp_b_1?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0131103628&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=12XRJB6GHX1JKPR3VZ13) But it looks terribly old and possibly outdated. It has great reviews though.

3. Best book for Obj-C? I was thinking of getting Programming in Obj-C 2.0 (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-2-0-Developers-Library/dp/0321566157/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232293783&sr=8-1)

And then getting Beginning iPhone Development (http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-iPhone-Development-Exploring-SDK/dp/1430216263/ref=pd_cp_b_1?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0321566157&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=19QN6XPTQKYG7E2H0NX3)

Now are these any good? If you know of any better ones what are they? Can i skip over Programming in Obj-C and go straight to Beginning iPhone Development?

Remember i am a complete noob with no programming experience whatsoever, so please help me.

[Rocketman919]

please, do any devs think that these would be good starting books?

[PoV]

Sure, if you stick with that, it can be done.

The problem most experienced people have is they may not remember an exact book that they learned from, or if the ones they did matter anymore.

C is an old language with origins back in the early 70's. Age of a book shouldn't matter if it's highly praised as a beginner book.

Practically speaking, you'll learn more by doing than reading. To really grasp it, expect to jump back and forth between reading something in the book and trying it on the computer.

You'll do yourself a service to get used to working in the Terminal. Learn how to browse your computer with "cd Directory", "ls", and the Tab key. The basics of C are based around the Terminal. printf( "Blah" ) writes to it, as most beginner books will likely start you with.

[Rocketman919]

Sure, if you stick with that, it can be done.

The problem most experienced people have is they may not remember an exact book that they learned from, or if the ones they did matter anymore.

C is an old language with origins back in the early 70's. Age of a book shouldn't matter if it's highly praised as a beginner book.

Practically speaking, you'll learn more by doing than reading. To really grasp it, expect to jump back and forth between reading something in the book and trying it on the computer.

You'll do yourself a service to get used to working in the Terminal. Learn how to browse your computer with "cd Directory", "ls", and the Tab key. The basics of C are based around the Terminal. printf( "Blah" ) writes to it, as most beginner books will likely start you with.
Okay but as long as i start with C and then learn Obj C i should be fine right?

[PoV]

Yes. ObjC (and C++) are derivatives of C, so ObjC will make more sense with an understanding of C.

[wastedyuthe]

Hi people. I'll be honest, I am thinking of getting into it too. I used to program games in Basic (don't laugh please) on my Atari ST, Spectrum, and even the ancient Acorn Electron. But I know I am rather behind the times now.
I have a question- Will learning C before ObjC make you have to unlearn what you learnt with C? ie, are there many significant differences between them?
I don't want to have to learn something in C, then have to learn another way to do the same thing in ObjC.

Also if I want to learn these languages, is there anything else I need other than Xcode from the Leopard disk and the iPhone SDK? I spotted the iPhone Developer program (http://developer.apple.com/iPhone/program/) on the Apple site, which you have to pay for. So what's the difference between that and the free SDK and Xcode?

[brewstermax]

Hi people. I'll be honest, I am thinking of getting into it too. I used to program games in Basic (don't laugh please) on my Atari ST, Spectrum, and even the ancient Acorn Electron. But I know I am rather behind the times now.
I have a question- Will learning C before ObjC make you have to unlearn what you learnt with C? ie, are there many significant differences between them?
I don't want to have to learn something in C, then have to learn another way to do the same thing in ObjC.

Also if I want to learn these languages, is there anything else I need other than Xcode from the Leopard disk and the iPhone SDK? I spotted the iPhone Developer program (http://developer.apple.com/iPhone/program/) on the Apple site, which you have to pay for. So what's the difference between that and the free SDK and Xcode?

The dev program allows you to use the program on an actual iPhone and to publish it to the app store. That's all.

[wastedyuthe]

The dev program allows you to use the program on an actual iPhone and to publish it to the app store. That's all.

Thanks pal. I have just dl'd the SDK for the moment, and will be learning ObjC. I am only interested in basic 2D games atm so don't want to get into that whole Unity thing.
I won't bother with the developer program for the moment, as I think I'll need a couple of months playing about first.

[Diablohead]

No point paying premium prices while you are still learning so good choice :)

[wastedyuthe]

No point paying premium prices while you are still learning so good choice :)

Thanks. Just hope I can get my head around learning this stuff now :D

[Paulio]

I also am going to attempt to create an app. I also am a complete noob at developing Heh. Luckily my brother, whom I will be working with, knows the basics and has the books. I'm already borrowing one called "How To Design Programs" which is irrelivant to iPhone and C or obj-C etc. but I have been told this would be a good place to start with, then move on. I will be doing more of the graphics and main concept perhaps anyway, but I think it would be in my favour to know anyways.

[wastedyuthe]

Good luck to all us noobs!

I have just been messing with a bit of sample code and changed the icon PNG to something naughty! I can get used to this :D

[Rocketman919]

Ok i have decided to go with a series of books, all with rave reviews that start you off like you are a five year old.

Learn C on the Mac (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-C-Mac-Dave-Mark/dp/1430218096/ref=pd_cp_b_3?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1430218150&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FJ9Z0EBMBAM5PM7MWT0) by Dave Mark

Learn Obj-C on the Mac (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Objective-ndash-C-Mac/dp/1430218150/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) by Mark Dalrymple

And Beginning iPhone Development (http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-iPhone-Development-Exploring-SDK/dp/1430216263/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) by Dave Mark

All of these books were released last year (and one even this year) and are all by the same company, Apress. They all have good reviews and the "Learn C" one says it's primary audience is people who have never coded before. Its great that they are all by the same company because that way i know one will begin right where another left off.

If you are beginning to start developing (like me) I think it would be a good idea to get these books.

[Paulio]

Ok i have decided to go with a series of books, all with rave reviews that start you off like you are a five year old.

Learn C on the Mac (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-C-Mac-Dave-Mark/dp/1430218096/ref=pd_cp_b_3?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1430218150&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FJ9Z0EBMBAM5PM7MWT0) by Dave Mark

Learn Obj-C on the Mac (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Objective-ndash-C-Mac/dp/1430218150/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) by Mark Dalrymple

And Beginning iPhone Development (http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-iPhone-Development-Exploring-SDK/dp/1430216263/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b) by Dave Mark

All of these books were released last year (and one even this year) and are all by the same company, Apress. They all have good reviews and the "Learn C" one says it's primary audience is people who have never coded before. Its great that they are all by the same company because that way i know one will begin right where another left off.

If you are beginning to start developing (like me) I think it would be a good idea to get these books.

Thanks rocket, I'll check these out myself.. Good luck with it all :)

you too yuthe :)

[KindredSpirit]

Thanks for the book links, Ill be trying these out too. BTW, when should you try unity, is that for 3D games and only 2d is the SDK? So i learn sdk and after a couple sample apps i should switch to unity?

BTW is this the ebook?

http://rapidshare.com/files/99390159/LearnC_MacOSX.rar

[Rocketman919]

Thanks for the book links, Ill be trying these out too. BTW, when should you try unity, is that for 3D games and only 2d is the SDK? So i learn sdk and after a couple sample apps i should switch to unity?

BTW is this the ebook?

http://rapidshare.com/files/99390159/LearnC_MacOSX.rar

i dont know if it is the exact same thing but it is worth a shot.

[Rocketman919]

Here are the links where you can order the books i posted above or download the e-book. The e-book is cheaper.

Learn C (http://www.apress.com/book/view/9781430218098)

Learn Objective C (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430218150)

Beginning iPhone Development (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430216263)

Also they have a book coming out soon called Learn Cocoa on the Mac (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430218592) which might be helpful (i dont know if it is required or not)

I think each book is 40 bucks (US) and each e-book is only 27, so take your pick. I for one prefer to have an actual book in my hand, so i will have to buy the paper copy.

Check the bar on the left for e-book downloading and ordering info.

[wastedyuthe]

Thanks for the links Rocket. I will definitely buy the "Beginning iPhone Development" as it is specifically for the iPhone. But I will also take a look at the "Learn Objective C" one too.
Nice one.
Has anyone tried dabbling with sample code yet? I have messed about with a few values and changed PNG's to pics of my liking. Not much else I can do atm till I get a book or two.

I like Xcode's very helpful intro screen, where it has links to online manuals and videos introducing it all. The iPhone OS Programming Guide is very good so far.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l125/wastedyuthe/xcode.png

I did a search of the podcasts in iTunes too, for Objective C, and this list came up- quite a few! Can anyone recommend any of these?

[EDIT] I have started watching the "Hot Cocoa (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294050836)" (HD version here (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294050835)) podcast which is actually a very good introduction to Xcode etc, and is great for novices like us, even though the host of the show seems a bit mad!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l125/wastedyuthe/Picture1.png

[Tennisking1o1]

I'm going to make an app with my bro over the summer. He's a great programmer and is crazy in stuff like Terminal. He can even remember passwords or codes that are like, 40 numbers and letters long (our WEP password for wifi, for instance), he just has that weird memory. He'll be doing the programming while I do the artwork. We're not sure what we want it to be, but it'll be something pretty basic, I imagine. Hopefully we can just make something some of our friends will like, and if we only earn $10 on the app store, it's $10 more than we had before, and we will have a good time creating the app.

BTW, he's currently trying to make some sort of storage server in his room (2 1-terabyte hard drives (?) within an old computer to be more energy efficient than running an external hard drive all day). I don't even know what he does, but whatever it is it always works out!

[Kamazar]

*sigh* Everytime I think about programming for the iPhone, I remember that I have school, swimming, crew, and homework that keeps me up 'til 11+ pm. Maybe during the summer...