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Ask HN: Best book to learn Objective C

2 points by israelyc 14y ago

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?

shadesandcolour 14y 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.
runjake 14y ago
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.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/drupal/ http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Developers-Library/dp/0321811909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337695533&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Develo... http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0321821521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337695555&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/...
- israelyc 14y ago
  Thank you! I don't really like videos but I will check it out..
akashicflow 14y ago
FYI Stanford rocks!!!! check also the student handouts, Very informative. A.
phatbyte 14y 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

2 points by israelyc 14y ago

shadesandcolour 14y 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.

runjake 14y ago

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.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/drupal/ http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Developers-Library/dp/0321811909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337695533&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Develo... http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0321821521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337695555&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/...

israelyc 14y ago
Thank you! I don't really like videos but I will check it out..

akashicflow 14y ago

FYI Stanford rocks!!!! check also the student handouts, Very informative. A.

phatbyte 14y 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