Mac Programming for Absolute Beginners

Contents at a Glance......Page 403
Contents......Page 404
About the TechnicalReviewer......Page 411
Acknowledgments......Page 413
Introduction......Page 414
What to Expect from This Book......Page 415
Understanding Programming......Page 2
Programming Principles......Page 3
Dividing Programs into Parts......Page 6
Event-Driven Programming......Page 8
Object-Oriented Programming......Page 9
Understanding Programming Languages......Page 12
The Building Blocks of Programming Languages......Page 13
Frameworks......Page 14
Mac Programming Today......Page 15
Summary......Page 17
Understanding Editors......Page 18
Understanding Xcode......Page 19
Deciphering the Xcode User Interface......Page 20
Running Xcode......Page 21
Creating a New Project in Xcode......Page 22
Examining Project Files in Xcode......Page 25
Compiling a Program......Page 27
Summary......Page 28
The Basic Steps to Creating a Mac Program......Page 30
A Bare-Bones Program Example......Page 31
A Simple User Interface Example......Page 34
An Interactive User Interface Example......Page 38
Writing Objective-C Code......Page 39
Connecting the User Interface......Page 41
An Advanced Interactive User Interface Example......Page 43
Summary......Page 46
Installing Help Topics......Page 48
Getting Help About Xcode......Page 49
Getting Help About Core Library......Page 50
Searching for Help......Page 55
Getting Quick Help......Page 56
Viewing Documentation for Selected Text......Page 57
Getting Help with Library Windows......Page 58
Color-Coding......Page 60
Using Code Completion......Page 61
Summary......Page 62
Differences in Writing a Mac Objective-C Program......Page 64
Understanding Objective-C Symbols......Page 66
Defining the End of Each Line with a Semicolon......Page 67
Defining the Beginning and End of Code with Curly Brackets......Page 68
Defining Comments with //......Page 69
Identifying Objects with [ and ]......Page 70
Defining Pointers with *......Page 71
Declaring Variables......Page 72
The Scope of a Variable......Page 74
A Program Example Using Variables......Page 76
Using Constants......Page 77
Using Mathematical Operators......Page 79
Using Strings......Page 80
Summary......Page 82
Making Decisions with Branches......Page 84
Understanding Boolean Expressions......Page 85
Boolean Comparison Operators......Page 87
Boolean Logical Operators......Page 88
The Simplest if Statement......Page 91
Following Multiple Instructions in an if Statement......Page 92
The if-else if Statement......Page 93
The switch Statement......Page 95
Summary......Page 99
Repeating Code with Loops......Page 100
Loops That Run a Fixed Number of Times......Page 101
Quitting a for Loop Prematurely......Page 103
Skipping in a for Loop......Page 104
The while Loop......Page 105
The do-while Loop......Page 106
Quitting a while or do-while Loop Prematurely......Page 107
Nested Loops......Page 108
Summary......Page 110
Understanding the Cocoa Framework......Page 112
An Overview of How Object-Oriented Programming Works......Page 113
Starting with a Class......Page 114
Defining Classes......Page 115
Creating an Object......Page 116
Storing Data in an Object......Page 117
A Sample Program for Manipulating Objects......Page 118
Looking Up Method and Property Names for NS Classes......Page 119
Summary......Page 122
Declaring a String Variable......Page 124
Getting the Length of a String......Page 125
Checking for Prefixes and Suffixes......Page 126
Converting to Uppercase and Lowercase......Page 127
Converting Strings to Numbers......Page 128
The length Field......Page 130
Replacing Part of a String at a Specific Location......Page 131
Searching for and Replacing Part of a String......Page 133
Deleting Part of a String......Page 134
Extracting a Substring with a Location and Length......Page 135
Extracting a Substring to the End of a String......Page 136
Appending a Substring......Page 137
Inserting a String......Page 138
Summary......Page 139
Arrays......Page 140
Creating an Array......Page 141
Finding the Right Method to Use......Page 142
Storing Objects in an Array......Page 144
Counting the Items Stored in an Array......Page 146
Accessing an Item in an Array......Page 147
Accessing All Items in an Array......Page 148
Adding Items to an Array......Page 150
Inserting Items into an Array......Page 152
Deleting an Item from a Specific Index Position......Page 153
Deleting All Instances of an Item from an Array......Page 154
Summary......Page 156
Dictionary Basics......Page 158
Creating and Putting Data in a Dictionary......Page 159
Counting the Items Stored in a Dictionary......Page 160
Retrieving an Item from a Dictionary......Page 161
Deleting Data from a Dictionary......Page 162
Copying a Dictionary......Page 163
Copying Dictionary Data Into an Array......Page 164
Sorting Keys......Page 165
Access All Items in a Dictionary......Page 166
Creating and Putting Data in a Set......Page 167
Checking Whether Data Is in a Set......Page 168
Adding and Removing Data in a Set......Page 169
Accessing All Items in a Set......Page 170
Identifying a Subset of a Set......Page 171
Summary......Page 173
Creating Classes and Objects......Page 174
Creating a Class......Page 175
Understanding the Code in a Class......Page 177
Deleting Class Files......Page 178
A Program Example of a Class......Page 179
Creating Methods......Page 181
Passing Parameters......Page 184
Returning Values from a Method......Page 189
Passing by Reference......Page 193
Creating Class Properties......Page 196
Defining Properties......Page 197
Accessing and Getting Values in Properties......Page 198
Summary......Page 201
Object Inheritance......Page 204
Method Overriding......Page 208
Responding to Events......Page 210
Understanding the Application Delegate......Page 211
Summary......Page 215
Getting to Know Interface Builder......Page 216
Creating a New User Interface .xib File......Page 217
Understanding the Parts of a .XIB File......Page 219
Interface Objects......Page 220
Toggling the View of Placeholder and Interface Objects......Page 221
Designing a User Interface......Page 222
Moving and Resizing User Interface Objects......Page 227
Autosizing and Anchoring User Interface Objects......Page 228
Summary......Page 230
Choosing Commands with Buttons......Page 232
Creating a Button......Page 233
Creating a Button Title......Page 236
Adding a Graphic Image......Page 238
Customizing the Visual Behavior of a Button......Page 240
Creating Tooltips......Page 241
Choosing a Button with a Keystroke Combination......Page 242
Connecting a Button to an IBAction......Page 243
Alternate Dragging Option......Page 246
Breaking a Link to an IBAction Method......Page 247
Summary......Page 249
Making Choices with Radio Buttons and Check Boxes......Page 250
Creating and Adding Radio Buttons......Page 251
Determining Which Radio Button a User Selected......Page 254
Creating Check Boxes......Page 258
Defining a Check Box’s Title and State......Page 260
Summary......Page 263
Pop-Up Button Basics......Page 264
Creating a Pop-Up Button List in Interface Builder......Page 267
Adding (and Deleting) Items on a Pop-Up Button List......Page 268
Modifying a Pop-Up Button’s List with Code......Page 271
Determining What a User Selected......Page 275
Summary......Page 278
Using Labels......Page 280
Adding a Label to Your User Interface......Page 281
Editing Text on a Label......Page 282
Adding a Text Field to Your User Interface......Page 288
Retrieving Data from a Text Field......Page 290
Adding a Combo Box to Your User Interface......Page 291
Retrieving a Value from a Combo Box......Page 293
Wrapping Labels and Text Fields......Page 296
Summary......Page 297
Inputting Data with Sliders, Date Pickers, and Steppers......Page 300
Using Sliders......Page 301
Defining Values......Page 302
Displaying Tick Marks......Page 303
Retrieving and Displaying a Slider’s Value......Page 304
Using a Date Picker......Page 306
Retrieving a Date from a Date Picker......Page 309
Using Steppers......Page 311
Summary......Page 315
Using Alert Dialog Boxes......Page 316
Displaying a Suppression Check Box......Page 318
Displaying Buttons on a Dialog Box......Page 319
Creating an Open Panel......Page 322
Allowing Multiple File Selections......Page 326
Creating a Save Panel......Page 328
Summary......Page 330
Editing Pull-Down Menus......Page 332
Editing a Menu or Menu Item......Page 333
Moving a Menu or Menu Item......Page 334
Creating New Menus and Menu Items......Page 336
Linking Menu Commands......Page 340
Assigning Keystrokes to a Menu Item......Page 342
Summary......Page 343
Designing Your Own Programs......Page 344
What Programs Do Well......Page 345
Designing the Program Structure......Page 346
The View......Page 347
Be Conventional......Page 349
Be Imitative......Page 350
Be Unusual......Page 351
Thinking in Objects......Page 352
Picking a Data Structure......Page 353
Creating an Algorithm......Page 354
Defining an Algorithm......Page 355
Writing Actual Code......Page 356
Prototyping Your Program......Page 358
Writing and Testing Your Program......Page 359
Summary......Page 360
Creating New Folders......Page 362
Fast Navigation Shortcuts......Page 363
Using the File History Pop-Up Button......Page 364
Using the Properties and Methods Pop-Up Button......Page 365
Using the Include Menu......Page 366
Making Code Easier to Read......Page 367
Folding (or Unfolding) a Block of Comments......Page 368
Splitting the Xcode Window......Page 369
Summary......Page 370
Debugging a Program......Page 372
Syntax Errors......Page 373
Logic Errors......Page 375
Viewing Problems When Debugging......Page 376
Comment Out Your Code......Page 377
Placing (and Removing) a Breakpoint......Page 378
Using the Debugger......Page 379
Stepping Through Code......Page 380
Summary......Page 383
A......Page 386
C......Page 387
D......Page 388
E......Page 389
H......Page 390
L......Page 391
M......Page 392
O......Page 393
P......Page 394
S......Page 395
U......Page 397
X......Page 398
Y, Z......Page 399