Class overview :

Class goals :

As well as developing proficiency in working with XCode and Interface Builder attendees will learn how to design effective event driven user interface based applications including:

• Implementing code for drawing and animation
• Laying out and managing user interface widgets such as buttons, text fields, sliders and scoll bars
• Kanipulate table views
• Persist (save) application state and user data
• Connect to interface objects both by using Interface Builder and by direct programming

Content of Cocoa Programming

Basic Concepts of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

Overview of the Cocoa framework architecture

Mastering the XCode IDE (Integrated Development Environment)

• creating and building projects
• running and debugging applications
• working with the class and documentation browsers

Intensive overview of ObjectiveC

• dynamic typing
• dynamic binding
• dynamic loading

The Runtime System

• dynamic method lookup
• resolution of unmatched selectors
• message forwarding

Dynamic Properties

• use of @property to declare accessor methods
• use of @synthesize to synthesize accessor methods

Categories and Protocols

Foundation Framework

• delegation
• key-value coding
• mutable subclasses

Files and URLs

• storage and retrieval of filesystems and web data

Memory Management

• reference counting
• garbage collection
• autorelease pools

Property lists and Key-Value pair coding idioms

Application Class and the App Delegate

• window server and the main event loop
• managing main window and key window status
• methods implemented by the delegate
• application configuration

Windows and Panels

• Writing code to create and manage windows
• window delegate methods

Menus and Submenus

• creating and modifying
• adding and removing menu items dynamically

Views and Responders

• handling mouse and keyboard events
• drawing to the screen
• View hierarchies
• implementing custom drawing functionality

Animation

• the core animation layers
• layer backed views
• custom animation

Controls and cells

• action methods and the targe-action idiom
• grid layout of buttons and text fields

String – object conversion

Formatters

• built in formatter classes
• creating custom formatter classes

Understanding object oriented patterns

• Model View Controller pattern
• Composite pattern
• Visitor pattern

Cocoa bindings

• model-view synchronisation
• the key-value observing protocol
• NSController hierarchy
• NSEditor hierarchy
• customising binding behaviour

Data persistence and object-relational mappings

• data modeling
• persistence stores

Text handling

• rich text formats
• cutting, copying, pasting

Data sources and Table Views

Interface Builder

• .nib and .xib files
• archiving and unarchiving of objects
• file ownership
• outlets and actions
• NSBundle
  • dynamic loading of .nib files

Storage and retrieval of user settings