iPhone in Action: Introduction to Web and SDK Development

by Christopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline

The entry to the world of iPhone.-Aiden Montgomery, Wile Ltd.

If you're new to iPhone development, this is your book -Larry C. Whipple, Mobile Productivity, Inc.

Get this book. It's pure gold.-Martijn Dashorst, Author of Wicket in Action

The quick & easy guide.-Premkumar Rajendran, HCL Technologies

The only book on iPhone development I will ever need.-Rama Krishna Vavilala, Author of ASP.NET AJAX in Action

The iPhone...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193398886X
• ISBN13: 9781933988863
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Manning Publications
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

great way to start running with iphone app development

I think this book is great. iPhone development is very complex, and the authors of this book make it accessible by giving diving into enough detail to make you productive quickly while gently introducing the more complicated concepts in later chapters. Like other reviewers, I'm more interested in SDK development than web. However, chapters 10-19 are devoted solely to that purpose, and you miss nothing by starting directly on chapter 10, and always having the web development portion there should you ever need it. This really is two books in one.

The best resource for WebKit development

I bought this book because I wanted a good discussion of both SDK and web development for the iPhone and this was the only book that gave any serious talk about web development. Although SDK development is definitely hotter right now, Web development continues to make more sense in a lot of situations, and will become even more compelling as time goes on and technology gets better. This book is a great resource because of that. A very good book to have.

Excellent introduction!

If you have a desire to create an application for the iPhone or iPod Touch, this book is a great starting point. It covers development of both web-based applications and those built using the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK). Very importantly, it also gives you the information you need to decide between which way you want to develop your application. Need access to dynamic data? You might be better off with a web app. Need to use the iPhone's accelerometer or GPS? You'll need to build your app using the SDK. Once you have decided how you want to go, the authors provide good tutorials for getting into either method of development. I have done more web development than programming so the web portions of the book were kind of a breeze for me. Once I got into the SDK portions, I slowed down and took more time on the tutorials. With the help of this book I have got myself to the point where I understand the basics of object-oriented programming, Objective-C, and how to use the SDK and Xcode to build simple applications. I'm ready to build my own apps and explore more of what I can do.

Fantastic broad coverage of all iPhone development topics SDK and web

iPhone in Action has very broad coverage of developing for the iPhone including native apps, web apps, and native apps that use web technologies. It introduces everything you need to know with good tutorials and examples for the most critical topics. The first third of the book covers web stuff - both how to revamp your existing website so it works great on both the desktop and iPhone, and also how to create iPhone specific web apps. Topics include design, CSS, iUI (the awesome library to make native looking web apps), graphics with webkit canvas, Dashcode, and debugging tips. The middle third of the book gets you started with native SDK development, starting with an overview of Objective-C and XCode, and then on to lots of good step by step tutorials for learning how to use Interface Builder and the different kinds of view controllers to create your GUI. The final third covers important SDK programming topics including graphics, web interaction, SQLite databases, using the address book, etc. The book is invaluable for beginners because it shows you all the possibilities of both web and SDK and it introduces all the key topics - something no other single title does (though it won't teach you programming or much Objective-C). Experts too will want this title too for the detailed web development topics that most other iPhone dev books don't include.