Ask HN: Best book to learn Objective C

2 pointsisraelyc14y ago4 comments

I would like to be able to hack a prototype in a month or so..

I haven't written a line of code in the past 7 years (and then it was mainly VB and C) and I basically need to start from scratch.

I don't like video schools like Treehouse because I find it redundant - I just can't skim through a video, or speed read parts of it.

I am just looking for a book that will cover all the basics and will basically teach me to build my first iOS app from scratch assuming I am an idiot. No more.

Any recommendations?

4 comments

4 comments · 3 top-level

runjake14y ago· 1 in thread

It sounds like you really want to learn Objective C and the iOS frameworks. For that, I suggest the Big Nerd Ranch books along with the Stanford iOS development class videos.

If you want an intensive study of Objective C itself, look at the Kochan book. It's the bible.

http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/drupal/

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Develo...

http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/...

israelycOP14y ago

Thank you! I don't really like videos but I will check it out..

shadesandcolour14y ago

I'm a big fan of all of the Big Nerd Ranch books. Also, Objective-C is pretty simple to learn, the real hurdle is learning the Cocoa/Cocoa Touch framework in addition to others. I would recommend the BNR books (they have one on iOS programming as well as one that teaches Objective-C) as well as watching the video lectures from Stanford since your focus is learning to program for iOS.

phatbyte14y ago

Programming in Objective-C 2.0 from Kochan is an amazing book, that's were I started.

The Apple's documentation is also pretty damn good and I also use Stackoverflow.com/google a lot when I need to understand something with other prespective

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