modding for beginners

[aamodr]

Could some one please tell me which language am i to learn to start writing programs for the iPhone or mac
i mean from the start like i am in kindergarten.....

[Poseidon79]

Moved to development section

[magicdanw]

The language to learn is Objective C. I'm in the process of learning it myself. If you already know C or C++, Objective C is backwards compatible (I think). If you're just beginning programming, I guess look for an Objective C tutorial. Or C, or C++, because they're good to know too.

[NetMage]

Not sure what you mean by backwards compatible.

Objective-C is a superset of C with additional object-oriented features. Objective-C++ is a similar extension of C++, but it has two not too compatible object-oriented extensions.

I suggest reading the stickies and getting some Cocoa books.

[nkonemann05]

I'm in the same boat. I've been reading through all the apple docs in the SDK and on the site, but there isn't much on the actual code, they're basically explaining like you already know objective-c or the variations.

Are there any good books on objective-c? I know java, VB, and cobol (lol yea cobol, which i'll never use) right now...

[Farani]

There are two good books for mac programming... programming for the iphone is just an extension of that. I'm in the process of learning to program for the mac myself... I have a C++ background so I'm still learning the syntactical and logical differences between it and Objective-C. I've also only been on a mac for about a year so I'm learning XCode, too. Anywho...

"Programming in Objective-C" Stephen G. Kochan
There is going to be a "Programming in Objective-C 2.0" Comming out soon...

"Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" THIRD EDITION by Aaron Hillegass.

There is going to be a specific book out by Erica Sadun on actually using the SDK to build iphone apps but it won't be out until October and she can't even talk about the book because of the NDA right now. But until then, those 2 books, and then reading through the frameworks are your best bet. Hope that helps!

[mtwiford]

+1 I have a real interest in programming and have done some minor programming, mainly on the web though. If you find any good sources let me know. I think I bought the book that Farani is talking about; "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" but I think it also assumes that you have experience with C++. Any help would be great guys..........someone take me under your wing!!

[NetMage]

Post specific questions and we can try to answer...

There is also the jailbreak application book from O'Reilly - I haven't read my copy yet but it may prove helpful for beginners.

[mtwiford]

hey where are you in VA? I am in va beach area. I just want to learn to program mac apps. Thats pretty much it. I guess I should start with learning C++, then cocoa?

[christoph2k]

hey where are you in VA? I am in va beach area. I just want to learn to program mac apps. Thats pretty much it. I guess I should start with learning C++, then cocoa?

I'm in the same boat as you. Wanting to write apps for the iPhone but needing a starting point.

From reading different posts on forums regarding Cocoa etc. I think starting to learn C is the best thing to do. I don't know the differences between C and C++ but I think C it the way to go.

Once you've learnt the basics of C, you can then move onto Cocoa....

I have read a great tutorial called "C is for Cocoa"... (click here)... This should get you going!

Chris

[mock]

is there a german one anywhere

[stitchwod]

I guess it also depends on how much (other) programming you've done in the past too.

I'd recommend starting on this website: Cocoa Dev Central

Read through all the tutorials to get an understanding. It'll help to re-visit these tutorials about once a week as they'll make more sense and you'll pick up things you missed.

Next, you should signup to the iPhone developer program (it's free) and download the SDK (Mac only):
iPhone Dev Center

From here you can download sample code to achieve 90% of the things you'll need in an application.

Follow the "Creating an iPhone Application" getting started document - This is a detailed guide to creating a basic "Hello World" example.

Finally, once you have the SDK installed and you've started using Xcode just click "Help -> Documentation" and from here you can search all of the iPhone APIs etc.

Basically, get comfortable with object-C, Cocoa and then play with the sample code.

If you like learning from books then the best one at the moment would probably be:
Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, Third Edition
by Aaron Hillegass

[Siiv3r]

i wish i had a mac.

[NetMage]

The toolchain works with Windows for 1.1.4 and less. It can be used for 2.0 but I think that is still hard to setup right now.

C++ isn't as important as the basics of C, then Objective-C's extensions. I only use Objective-C++ to pick up a few C-99 style and C++ style idioms I am used to (variable decleration everywhere, etc.). Mostly I stick to the Objective-C stuff.

Southside VA (halfway across the state )

[Hackin' Fool]

Most of yall are on the right path with trying to learn C or cocoa or C++ first. I want to give you a warning not to try to start out on Obj-C. If you do you will end up giving up and never get a program written because you wont find a beginners guide to Obj-C. I started out on Java, then C++, then C just so it would be easier to learn C, then Obj-C.

[mtwiford]

I am reading something on C++ right now. How necessary is it to know how RAM functions. I mean I know what it does, but this guy is going into how many bits are in a bite and how the reference to the processor and all of that crap! I just want to program!!!