This week's post is now live on the iPhoneLife web site:
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer-object-oriented-programming
This week's post includes a step-by-step video as we cover:
- Object-orientation in Objective-C
- Inheritance
- Passing messages
- Converting the prototype into a real app
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
This week's post is now live on the iPhoneLife site:
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer
In this week's post we dive into programming and discuss:
- The three parts of an app
- What is iOS
- Source Code, Compilers and Machine Code
- Understanding Classes and Objects
- Attributes, Properties & Methods
- Visual and Non-Visual Objects
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
In this 5th post (includes step-by-step video) in my "Unleash Your Inner App Developer" blog series for iPhoneLife magazine, we finish building the prototype app!
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer-finishing-prototype
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
The fourth installment of my "Unleash Your Inner App Developer" blog series for iPhone Life magazine is now live, and includes a step-by-step video!
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer-next-steps
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
Book 2: Flying with Objective-C is now available in paperback! This is one of the most comprehensive books on Objective-C that you will find!
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Flying-Objective-C-Development-Non-Programmers/dp/0988232715/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
The book includes links to instructional videos on our web site.
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
Whenever you see the dreaded "Could not insert new outlet connection. Could not find any information for the class named xx", it's almost always an Xcode problem. Even though the class named in the error message is in your project, Xcode loses track of it, and acts as if it's not there.
Assuming you have already tried restarting Xcode to fix the problem (you should try this first), here are a few solutions to this problem:
Remove the Class Files and Add Them Back in Again
- In the Project Navigator, select the .h and .m files of the class that Xcode is complaining about in the message.
- Press the delete key.
- When the confirmation dialog appears, choose the Remove References option.
- In the Project Navigator, right-click your project's main group and select Add Files to xx from the popup menu.
- Add the .h and .m class files back into the project.
Force Xcode to Rebuild the Project's Index
Xcode builds an index of all the files contained in the project. If this index has become corrupt, you can force Xcode to rebuild the index by following these steps:
- Open Xcode, but make sure the project is closed
- Click the Organizer button on the right side of the toolbar at the top of the Xcode window.
- In the Organizer window, click the Projects tab.
- On the left side of the Organizer window, select the project that has the problem.
- On the right side of the Organizer window, click the Delete button next to the Derived Data path.
- Reopen the project.
Hopefully one of these solutions works for you!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
My latest blog post for iPhone Life magazine includes step-by-step instructions and video for learning to build iOS Apps!
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer-diving-deeper
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
The third installment of my blog series targets at non-programmers is now live on the iPhone Life web site! In this week's post we begin the process of creating an iOS app that accesses and stores data on the web, and integrates with the iOS camera, Facebook, Twitter, and much more.
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31369/unleash-your-inner-app-developer-getting-taste-app-development
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
Well, this doesn't have anything to do with iOS, Android, or .NET, but, my wife Sharlene has a great new blog that's targeted at any of you pizza fanatics out there (and if you write code for a living, I KNOW you're out there)! Here it is:
http://www.pizzastalker.blogspot.com
We both attended the Pizza Expo 2013 in Las Vegas last week and it was a blast!
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
When you upgrade to Xcode 4.6, you may find that you are getting a number of compiler warnings like this:
'xxxxx' used as the name of the previous parameter rather than as part of the selector
In this post I will show you why you're getting this warning, how to fix it, or how to ignore it.
Why You're Getting This Warning
This is typically caused by declaring a method without specifying a description of the parameter. For example, check out the following method declaration:
- (NSString *) getFormattedDateString:(NSDate *)date:(NSString *)formatString;
The intent of this code is to declare a method named getFormattedDateString that accepts two parameters named date and formatString.
Because there is no space between date and the colon (:), the compiler gives the warning "'date' used as the name of the previous parameter rather than as part of the selector".
How to Fix The Problem
There are two ways to solve this warning:
1. Put a space between date and the colon:
- (NSString *) getFormattedDateString:(NSDate *)date :(NSString *)formatString;
2. Add a description for the formatString parameter:
- (NSString *) getFormattedDateString:(NSDate *)date withFormat:(NSString *)formatString;
The second option is preferable because it makes your method more readable. That;s because parameter descriptions are part of the method signature. In this example, the method signature is:
getFormattedDateString:withFormat:
If you leave out the parameter description, the method signature is the less readable:
getFormattedDateString::
How to Ignore the Warning
Although it's preferable to fix these warnings by changing your method declarations, if you want to ignore them, you can simply add the following declaration to your project's PCH file (located in the Support Files group):
#pragma clang diagnostic ignored "-Wmissing-selector-name"
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Author: iOS App Development for Non-Programmers book series
Twitter: @kjmcneish
Hello All! Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm now a regular columnist and featured blogger for iPhoneLife magazine! I'll still be blogging here, but you can find more of my iOS content in the magazine and in my new blog:
http://www.iPhoneLife.com/blogs/kevin-mcneish
My first blog post is about Apple's expansion of the iBookStore into Japan and some new enhancements to iBooks and iTunes Producer.
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
Great news! Book 3: Navigating Xcode 4.6 in our iOS App Development for Non-Programmers is now available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Navigating-Development-Non-Programmers-ebook/dp/B00BLS8LRO/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1361977444&sr=8-11&keywords=xcode+4.6
This third book in the series helps you deliver high-quality Apps more quickly as it teaches you to take full advantage of all the great features in Xcode 4.6.
Book 3 also includes information on:
- Taking full advantage of the new user interface Auto Layout model
- Thorough explanations and project samples on how to use all of the iOS user interface controls
- Creating a well-designed App architecture that makes it easy to enhance and extend your Apps
- Saving Data on an iOS Device with Core Data
- In-depth coverage of using table views to manage lists of data
- Saving Data on an iOS Device with Core Data
- Managing Change with Refactoring
- Moving Your Apps to iPhone 5 and iOS 6
- And much more!
Includes Step-by-Step Instructional Videos!
Book 3 includes step-by-step instructional videos in which you watch the author perform each exercise in the book. This is great for non-programmers who might need some extra help.
All the best!
Kevin McNeish
We have an additional location and dates for our iOS Apps for Non-Programmers Training Class (again, in addition to our April 1-5, 2013 Manhattan Beach, CA class).
Maui Training Class Details
Our class will be held at the
Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Maui, HI (2 miles from Maui's main airport). It's a five-day hands-on workshop that runs from
July 8-12, 2013, 9am-5pm each day. This five day workshop, is specifically designed for non-programmers. It teaches you the skills you need to create great Apps for the iPhone and iPad, using the latest tools from Apple!
Beyond the Books
We ask that students go through Book 1 and most of Book 2 before attending class. That way we can go further than the book series currently does and cover topics such as:
- Creating Universal Apps that work great on both the iPhone & iPad
- Creating a well-designed App architecture
- More Core Data - Saving data on a device
- Accessing data on the web
- Creating a revenue stream with iAds
- Interacting with the Camera
- Integrating video and audio in your App
- Interacting with other iOS Apps
- Integrating iMessage, iCloud and Twitter
- Integrating with iOS Passbook (creating event tickets, store cards, boarding passes, etc)
- Working with Maps
- Best practices in creating iOS Apps
- And much more!
Bring Your Apps to Class!
We encourage students to bring the Apps they are working on to class. There is specific information we always cover in each class, but we find that learning about iOS technologies in the context of real-world Apps is the best way to understand how these features work, and how they can be used in your own Apps.
We highly recommend
The Old Wailuku Inn (just 2 miles from the MAAC center) as a great place to stay. You can also check out the
Courtyard by Marriott Maui (just 2.5 miles from the MAAC center) in Kahului, HI, for a more typical hotel stay, or any other hotel of your choosing.
Early Bird Extended for our Manhattan Beach Class, April 1-5, 2013
We have had requests to extend our early bird special for our April 1-5, 2013 Manhattan Beach class, so we have extended the deadline until March 1, 2013.
For details on both classes, check out this link:
Book 3: Navigating Xcode in our iOS App Development for Non-Programmer series is officially released and available in the iBookstore today!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/book-3-navigating-xcode-4.5/id598559434?mt=11
This book contains the most thorough coverage of Xcode that you will find! It is a deep dive into the tools and technologies of Xcode 4.5.
Book 3 also contains bonus information on:
- Taking advantage of the new user interface Auto Layout model in Xcode 4.5
- Moving Your Apps to iPhone 5 and iOS 6
- Thorough explanations and project samples on how to use all of the iOS user-interface controls
- Creating a well-designed App architecture that makes it easy to enhance and extend your Apps
- Working with Core Data
- In-depth coverage of using table views to manage lists of data
- Managing Change with Refactoring
Book 3 includes step-by-step instructional videos in which you watch the author perform each exercise in the book. This is great for non-programmers who might need some extra assistance.
It's official! We are releasing the latest book in our iOS App Development series, Book 3: Navigating Xcode at the Macworld / iWorld conference in San Francisco this week.
Come visit us at Booth #413 at the expo. We will have some fun giveaways (including the new book) and would love to meet you face to face!
Best Regards,
So, I'm pretty excited about this.
Today, at the Digital Book World Conference in NYC, it was announced that our book, iOS App Development for Non-Programmers, won the Publishing Innovation Award for best self-published book:
I'm particularly happy about this because we took the hight road and spent a LOT of time formatting the book for the iPad and the Kindle to take full advantage of each platform. We used full color, HD images, video, interactive diagrams, and so on. Congratulations to my wife Sharlene for the great photography in the book, which really helps it stand out. We have a great technical editor, Greg Lee, who helps make sure I'm covering all the bases, and an outstanding copy editor, Benjamin Miller who kept the book free from grammar, punctuation, inconsistencies, and anything else I threw at him!
This story has been picked up by many news organizations and on-line resources such as Apple Magazine: http://applemagazine.com/ios-app-development-for-non-programmers-earns-publishing-innovation-award/5334
The third book in the series is all done but the final edits! More information on that as soon as it's ready!
We met some great authors with some outstanding books at the conference. I'll be sharing more about these in the weeks to come.
Kevin McNeish
It's official. I'm teaching our next hands-on iOS App Development workshop at the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles).
This workshop is a great place to dive into the world of iOS App development, and emerge with the skills to create your own Apps.
Check out our web site to learn more about this class:
http://www.iOSAppsForNonProgrammers.com/Training.html
Kevin McNeish
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