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
• setting up and managing UI widgets such as buttons, text fields, and pickers
• how to persist (save) application state and user data
• how to connect to interface objects both by using Interface Builder and by direct programming
• how to access iPhone user input from touches, as well as from the accelerometer and Core Location
• how to make best use of iPhone’s table views and navigation controllers

Content of Cocoa Touch Programming

Basic Concepts of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

Overview of the iPhone Cocoa Touch 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

Understanding object oriented patterns

• Model View Controller pattern
• Composite pattern
• Visitor pattern
• iPhone UIKit design pattern application

Table Views

• UITableView
• UITableViewController
• data source method idiom
• delegate method idiom

Navigation – patterns and idioms

• iPhone navigation controller
• iPhone tab bar controller

Touch Events

• patterns and idioms for handling user touch

Customisation of iPhone UI components

• Core Graphics framework
• Core Animation framework
• image display and manipulation
• animation design and implementation

Data persistence

• types of data store
• principles
• patterns and idioms

Memory Management

• retain counts
• autorelease pools

Processing accelerometer input

Integrating applications with Core Services such as

• the Address Book
• Maps
• Safari
• Mail

Dynamic Loading of application modules

Performance monitoring

Testing and debugging