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Daniel Steinberg thinks different. A well-known author, speaker, and podcaster on advanced topics in Apple development, he set out to write about Cocoa as a neighborhood, with rules, good streets, bad streets, and...neighbors!
The result is Cocoa Programming: A Quick-Start Guide for Developers (Pragmatic Bookshelf, $32.95 USD). Just like an experienced neighbor, Steinberg shows readers the shortcuts, best resources, and places to avoid. He presents best practices and insider tips for finding more information. That's how experienced developers roll.
But make no mistake—Cocoa Programming isn't just a bird's eye overview. Readers will finish the book as Cocoa programmers, primarily for desktop OS X but with portability to the iPhone, iPad, and mobile platforms. As early as the second chapter, they'll use Apple's Xcode and Interface Builder dev tools to create a web browser, then they'll dive into the square brackets and unique syntax of Objective-C, the language of Cocoa.
Throughout the four sections of the book, Steinberg emphasizes the wisdom of using and reusing all the methods, classes, tools, and resources built into the Cocoa frameworks. "This book begins with you creating an application with almost no code.
"You then spend the bulk of the book mastering different coding techniques. By the end, you will again be writing less code. This time, however, you will understand sophisticated techniques that allow you to create powerful and flexible applications by writing only the code that is required."
That's the experience developers will earn from working through this book. Working with Cocoa's resources will become a sort of sixth sense. Steinberg describes the point where Cocoa programmers trust they can find "two lines" of reusable code for most solutions: "Fifty lines in, you'll be aware that you're working too hard. You will know that those two lines probably exist. When you don't know what to do yourself, you'll know where to go to find help."
That's the power of Cocoa Programming—beyond learning Objective-C and the development tools, readers learn how to save time by exploiting the rich set of existing solutions built into the frameworks.
It's the experienced programmer's fastest way to break into Apple development.
For a review copy or more information please email pragprogpr@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.
Daniel H. Steinberg is the editor for the new series of Mac Developer titles for the Pragmatic Programmers. He writes feature articles for Apple's ADC web site and is a regular contributor to Mac Devcenter. He has presented at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, MacWorld, MacHack and other Mac developer conferences.
Additional Resources
For more information about the book, including code, errata, discussions, full table of contents, excerpts from the book and more, see the catalog page for Cocoa Programming.
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Daniel H. Steinberg
ISBN: 9781934356302, 280 pages,
Book Price: $32.95 USD, £25.50 GBP
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