Apress’s latest book “Objective-C for Absolute Beginners: iPhone and Mac Programming Made Easy,” (http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430228326) is written for those who have never programmed before. Author Gary Bennett shares his formula for success in four tips for brand-new programmers:
° Learning to program is an interactive process. Code, code, and keeping coding. The more you code, the better you’ll get. Like learning to play an instrument, you have to practice.
° Be patient with yourself. You are going to have to spend time coding. Your program doesn’t care if you are having a bad day or how many times you ask it to perform a task. Your program will do whatever you tell it to do. Often, what you think you’ve told your program to do and what it actually does are two different things.
° You will really learn when you debug your programs. Spending time walking through your code to find out why it is not working the way you want is a learning process that is unparalleled.
° It is highly recommended that you have a second monitor connected to your computer. As you step through your code, it is very helpful to watch your output window and iPad simulator on dual, independent monitors. (Apple hardware makes this easy. Just plug your second monitor in to the display port of any Intel-based Mac, with the correct mini display port adapter, of course, and you’re able to have two monitors working independently from one another.) It is not required to have dual monitors, you will just have to organize your open windows to fit on your screen if you don’t.
“Objective-C for Absolute Beginners: iPhone and Mac Programming Made Easy” teaches anyone who wants to learn to develop applications for the Mac or apps for the iPhone and iPad. No previous programming experience is necessary. Readers learn to think in programming terms, how to use Objective-C to build program logic, and how to write applications and apps.
“Objective-C for Absolute Beginners: iPhone and Mac Programming Made Easy” is 296 pages. It costs US$39.99 for a print edition and $27.99 for an ebook.