Chapter 2. Learning Objective-C and the iPhone OS SDK
This chapter covers
- Learning about Apple’s SDK package
- Understanding Objective-C
- Looking at the iPhone OS
In this chapter, you’ll prepare to work with the Apple’s iPhone OS SDK. We also look at Objective-C, Apple’s native language, and then investigate the iPhone OS and its methods. We assume that you have a good understanding of a rigorous programming language (like C), that you know the basic concepts behind object-oriented programming (OOP), and that you understand what the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural model is.
We’re now ready to move into the world of SDK development. You’ll download the SDK first thing so that you can see what it consists of, but then we’ll take a step back to examine the programming language and frameworks that you’ll be using when you program with the SDK.
The iPhone software development kit (SDK) is a suite of programs available in one gargantuan (over 1 GB) download from Apple. It gives you the tools you need to program (Xcode), debug (Instruments), and test (Simulator) your iPhone and iPad code. Note that you must have an Intel-based Apple Macintosh running Mac OS X 10.5.3 or higher to use the SDK.