Could you build from scratch an iPhone app in five days? The answer to this question largely depends on your background and the complexity of the application that you want to develop. However, regardless of the details, the author of this book presents all of the basic knowledge needed to do just that.
For a reader with some background in object-oriented programming, but no familiarity with iOS and Objective-C, the goal of building a real app in five days would be daunting. However, for readers who already know these tools, this book will provide a good schedule to accomplish this demanding task.
The book is organized in five sections of increasing difficulty, representing the five days of the challenge. The reader is presented with all of the concepts required to build an app and finally upload it to the App Store.
The first day contains four chapters in which the reader learns about the foundations of programming for iOS using Xcode and Objective-C. Day 2 contains two chapters (5 and 6) devoted to the user interface. On day 3, the reader explores how to work with data in chapters 7 to 9. Day 4 includes chapters 10 to 12, devoted to working with the address book and to retrieving information from Facebook. Finally, on the last day and in the final two chapters, the reader learns how to submit an application to the App Store and increase its chances of success.
The book is written with a very direct and didactic style. From the very beginning, the reader will find source code snippets to use and exercises to solve to progress to the end of the book, at which point a complete app will have been built.
On the book’s cover, the publisher claims that this is the “first iPhone apps development guide for Web and Flash developers.” I’m not sure that is accurate. That said, if you have some background in iOS and Objective-C, the book provides what it promises: an organized way to develop an iPhone app in five days (or so). I believe it could be especially useful for Android developers who want to jump into the Apple realm.
