Okay I know this has been discussed here before but my OCD requests it's own audience. I've been a gamer since the 80's and a Mac fan just as long. I've never considered programming but the iPhone has really sparked something in me. Along with my brother we have years of html and photoshop experience but never software programming. So this is what I have... 1 - iphone 3G 1 - ipod Touch 1 - intel iMac (fresh out the box) 2 - eager wannabe programmers (lol) I'm fully aware that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint, we're both cool with that. We're willing to invest money and time in learning what ever languages are needed to create apps. So this is what I need from you guys... 1. What are the various langauges we should learn and what do they all do? 2. What software should I have on the iMac to get the ball rolling? 3. Any recommendations on books or videos would be great? 4. Anything I'm leaving out? Thanks guys. Hopefully it'll be something that I can pursue and make something out of nothing.
Mobile Orchard has a great podcast about where to start. First start with the C Language then Object C and then the iPhone SDK. Check Amazon for some pretty good books on beginning iPhone development.
Stanford has an iphone development class and they are recording all of their classes and putting it in itunes U
You can also check out the Stanford CS193P "iPhone Application Programming" class web page (http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/index.php) - complete with slides, podcast (available through iTunesU), sample code, etc. If you've never done any software programming it might be a bit overwhelming, but there plenty of links throughout the podcasts to "where to find more info" on the topics discussed.
Assuming you are making a game, I would also suggest researching and finding a great game engine. I am only familiar with Unity but there are some other good ones out there, with pros and cons of each. Knowing what engine works for you and getting the most out of your use of it is invaluable to saving time down the road.
I personally go against using an engine, because sooner or later you will have to make your own engine, so may as well start with it. This site should help you a lot.
Nope, Unity does pretty much everything, so I won't need to write an engine ever. However I'd strongly recommend learning the basics first, and then using an engine later. Otherwise you are trying to learn two complex things at once, which most people don't do very well with. --Eric
Thanks for all the great info guys. I'm definitely interested in making games. Puzzle and strategy games are my main interest. I'll be checkin out all the tips asap.
Well you need a good idea. I have an idea for an easy app to make, but can't find a dev to make something that small. After searching the app store with finals coming up, I have been eager to look for a flash card app, but none are any good. Want I want to see in it, swipe left/right to flip card, swipe up or down of move to the next card/go back. double Tap to bring up menu. Options: different color cards, different color text, drawing (for diagrams) and ability to add photos from camera or album. Also saving them online to a public server would be awesome, (so I could save my cards online and let my friend use them too). If only, if only...
So help me understand one thing, do I need to learn C before I can learn Object C or can I go right into Object C?
You can jump right in. Objective-C is based very strongly on C, so knowing C gives you a big headstart, but not knowing it won't screw you over. You can learn Obj-C and, in the process, you'll pick up C naturally as you go.
Cool. Gonna pick up a couple of Objective-C books tonight. Any recommendations? Thanks to everyone for your help.
Stephen Kochan's "Programming In Objective-C" seems to be the most popular choice for people new to Objective-C. It is geared towards Mac-development rather than iPhone but as the two share a lot of libraries and developer-tools it should still be a good place to start. I started with Kochan's book and then went on to "Beginning iPhone Development" from Apress.
So I'm starting with the recommended Stephen Kochan's "Programming In Objective-C" book and I can tell you it's really an easy read. I'm glad I picked it up. So far all the early excercises have worked out fine but the program below doesn't seem to add up right and I can figure out why. I typed exactly what he has in the book and it's adding up wrong. Anyone spot the mistake??
In the nslog print line the second " needs to be before the variable names This is one of those places where knowing c would help
Thanks 99c. I eventually figured it out. To be honest it was completely just a lack of inexperience. The book does a great job of explaining this but I just need to train my eyes to pick up these things better.
I wouldnt worry about that you'll be spotting syntax errors in no time. iphone development is pretty easy it took me about 3 days to learn enough objective C to be up and running. The hardest part for me isn't the language. It's knowing about memory management, data structures, and 3D transforms and the like.