I've been dabbling in Objective-C and Cocoa for years. Now, thanks in large part to the iPhone, I'm spending almost all my development time coding Objective-C. And I'm having a blast!
That brings us to a question I'm often asked: What's your favorite editor? My answer is always: It depends. (At this point, I start losing friends.)
I've been accused of not having any loyalty when it comes to editors, and it's
absolutely true. I use vi every day for my work at the command line. I write
books in Emacs. I code Ruby and Rails in TextMate. And when I'm programming in
Objective-C, it's Xcode all the way. Sure, when I'm in Xcode I miss favorite
things in the other editors, but Xcode has features that make iPhone
development a lot more convenient. Simply put: It's the best tool for the job.
Picking up a new editor can be a bit jarring at first. Xcode is certainly no exception. It's a lot more than an editor - it's an IDE. And in general I cower away from those big letters. But I find that Xcode has a nice balance. You're in charge when it comes to files and source code, and Xcode takes over when you need it to build and package your application for the Mac or iPhone. Behind the facade, you can still do everything from the command line if you want. I like that kind of transparency.
But it took me a while before I really felt productive in Xcode. I
could get things done, but not very efficiently. I missed all the shortcuts
and power moves I'd learned in my other editors. So I invested the time
learning the tricks to Xcode and distilled everything I learned down into a
set of Becoming Productive
in Xcode screencasts. Check out the free sampler
movie for a peek at what's inside. There's a ton of research behind these
screencasts. I knew a fair amount going into the project, but ended up
learning a bunch of new things, too. I'm confident you'll get your $10 worth.
:-)
It's my hope that these screencasts will quickly make you a more productive (and even happier!) Xcoder, whether you're a new iPhone developer or you just want to become more familiar with the shortcuts. I'm really pleased with the feedback so far. Please keep it coming! Thanks to your continued support, I hope to do more screencasting soon...
I'm excited to see Bill Dudney's iPhone screencasts, and
the definitive iPhone
book, finally see the light of day!
Here's a little secret: On the screencast page you'll find a link to a
20-minute "Getting Started with Xcode and Interface Builder" screencast that's
absolutely free. In that screencast, Bill shows you how to build the simplest
of iPhone apps (a Hello World app). More important, he shows you how
it works—from main triggering Nib files being loaded, to
wiring up interface controls, and all the way through a button push running
code that you write.
You won't learn everything (that's what the rest of the series is about), but the freebie screencast is a great way to get started. You can follow along and have a basic iPhone app running in just a couple minutes. Fun stuff!
Disclaimer: I produce the screencasts that are sold on the Pragmatic Programmers site. As such, if you buy a screencast, you're supporting
my work.
I learn something new every time I watch a developer work. Sometimes it's the little things, like a new command-line trick or a method I've never used. Other times it's the big things that you can only learn while watching them "in the zone": their thought processes, how they refactor code, when they choose one technique over another, how they troubleshoot problems along the way, and so on. Indeed, the best way to get inside a developer's head is to watch him work. So I try to shoulder-surf as much as I can because it helps me find ways to improve my development workflow.
I've had the good fortune to meet experienced developers working with a number
of different languages and tools. Unfortunately, I can't always sit next to
them as they build applications. So I did the next best thing—I asked
them to record what's going on inside their head while incrementally building
an application. And I took on the role of development editor so they could
focus on showing you how they work. That turned into a bigger project than any
of us imagined.
It's been a long time in the making, but I'm excited to announce the launch of
our new screencasts project. To start with we have episodes in the following
four series:
Each series has a few 20-30 minute episodes to start the season, and more
episodes are on the way. You can follow along with each twist and turn as they
add new features to shape the application over time. For $5 per episode, you
can download and watch DRM-free episodes in QuickTime and iPod/iPhone format
when and where it's convenient for you. These folks have put a ton of work
into creating these screencasts, and I hope you'll support their time and effort.
This is very much an organic project. We'll be releasing new episodes every
couple weeks or so, and we're planning to release new screencasts on other
topics, as well. (Let me know if you're interested in becoming a screencast creator.) Make sure to check out the free previews, and we hope you'll
join us for the full season!
