Post WDI - iPhone, Cocoa Touch & Interface Builder Fundamentals

Activities @ Reading Book (Sams Teach Yourself iPhone App Dev in 24 hrs (IMO 1-2 weeks full-time to learn properly) (by Ray & Johnson)

iPhone Development (Xcode 5) (

• Test & Build DONE
• Snapshots, Pragma marks, Project Properties {icon, status}, Build Outputs, iPhone Simulator, Simulate Conditions {finger pulls OPT} ) 

• Interface File ( DONE
• Protocols {< > collection of common grouped methods}
• IBOutlet {object defined in interface builder},
• Directives {i.e. @interface}, 
• Defining Method Getters and Setters
• Class Methods { +(<type_returned>)<method_name>:(..).. ..:(..)..; },
• Instance Methods { -(..; }, Multiple Params
• Directive { @property (.., <attributes>) <object> *<instance_var>; }, 
• Synthesise { simplify interaction by defining properties of instance var objects and generating code for their getters/setters (accessors/mutators) }  

• Implementation File DONE
• Comments { // or /* }, 
• Primitive Data Types {int, float, double},
• Objects {data types, pointers, instance var, methods}, 
• Declare Variable Object {declare instance var pointing to mem loc'n of object of specific class i.e. NSString *userName }, 
• Allocate Memory for Object {alloc message to the class}, Initialize {init message to initialize mem contents allocated to object of specific class}, x = [[UILabel alloc] init]; {x is now a usable but not useful object}, 
• Convenience Method {special config steps to setup object and basic properties for use (i.e. label name, screen location, etc)} --> x = [[UILabel alloc] initWithString:@"abc"]; { creates new string object of type NSString and sets its property pointer},  
• Messaging Syntax {send object a msg by giving name of var/class referencing the object and method name, then params, gives boolean result} --> [<obj var/class> <method_name>:@"<param_val>" <param2>:<param2_val / manner_to_perform_method>]; }, 
• Predefined Values {nil lack of value}, 
• Nested Messaging {benefit of using results directly instead declare temp var to hold} --> i.e. z = [[x capitalizedString] stringByAppendString:[y capitalizedString]]; (where: object var 'y', instance method 'capitalizedString', method name 'stringByAppendString', param value result of 'y capitalizedString'), 
• Expressions {use values returned from methods of objects and their properties to create expressions} --> i.e. [x compare:@"y"] (result is boolean), 
• Expression Syntax { (), ==, !=, &&, ||, ! }, 
• If-Then-Else, Switch Statement, Loops - Condition-Based Loops {For Loop with initialize counter, test condition, increment}, Condition-Based Loop {While, Do While}, Autoincrementing {and De-...},
• Memory Management (differs fron OS X which has automatic garbage collection), Releasing Objects is Dev's Responsibility (except vars holding less mem intensive Primitive Data Types i.e. @"" syntax) { calling 'release' method i.e. [<var> release]; }, Auto Releasing Objects { i.e. [<var> autorelease]; --> inefficient release from object pool }, Retaining Objects { i.e. when object created as returned from a method (not directly created) i.e. [<var> retain]; }, Retain & Release Count { retain message increases count, release decreases, object remove from memory when count reaches zero }, Releasing Instance Methods { use 'dealloc' method and 'release' call on instance method (i.e. 'x') to parent class  i.e. -(void)dealloc { [x release]; [super dealloc]; } 

• Cocoa Touch {  DONE
• Dfn; collection of frameworks customised for touch/handheld interface to build iPhone platform apps and runtime to execute user interface based on Cocoa framework
• iPhone OS Service Layers each containing diff frameworks { Cocoa Touch (UI (i.e. events, phone, data, camera, photo, accelerom) / Map / Game Kits (i.e. p2p networks, sessions, voicechat) + Msg / AddrBk UI's), Media (Audio (i.e. play, record, vibrations) / OpenGL / MediaPlyer / Core Grphx (i.e. 2d drawing) / Quartz Core (i.e. Core Animations)), Core Services (Foundation (i.e. manipulate strings, arrays, dict. + app threads prefs, internat.), Core Fndtn (i.e. procedural C -> non-OO), Core Loc'n (i.e. GPS lat/long + precision), Core Data (i.e. data modelling SQL), Store Kit (i.e. in-app App Store transactions), Sys Config (i.e. network config status)), Core OS (CFN Network (i.e. BSD sockets, HTTP, FTP, Bonjour, etc), Ext Accessory (i.e. docked/bluetooth), Security (i.e. encrypt, decrypt, iPhone keychain interact), System Framework (i.e. subset of Unix dev tools)) }
• iPhone App Lifecycle Trace {launch setup with application delegate class creating View (Output) and View Controller (Input Events), input event loop handling from Cocoa Touch interface and manipulating views, termination}
• Core App Classes
• Autocreated
• Root Class (NSObject) { most classes inherit }
• Applic Object (UIApplication) { handle events, notifications, app config }
• Window Objects (UIWindow) { superview containers of instance views }
• Manual Created
• Views (UIView) { subview nested rect area instance of UIWindow create with Interface Builder (IB) }
• Responders (UIResponder) { touch events passed up "Chain of Responders" under reach "First Responder" able to actively handle }
• Onscreen Controls (UIControl) { inherits from UIView as superclass of onscreen controls touch event handling and triggering. events tied to controls with IB }
• View Controllers (UIViewController) { manage content of views. instances of view controller implement actions to react }
• Data Type Classes
• Strings (NSString, NSMutableString)
• Arrays (NSArray, NSMutableArray) { collection data type, i.e. initWithObjects, objectAtIndex }
• Dictionaries (NSDictionary, NSMutableDictionary) { collection data type with key/value(object), i.e. objectForKey (access) }
• Numbers (NSNumber, NSDecimalNumber) { i.e. numberWithInt }
• Dates (NSDate) { i.e. userDate, earlierDate }
• URLs (NSURL) { 'host' method to parse and grab just the machine name from the string }
• Interface Classes
• Labels (UILabel)
• Buttons (UIButton)
• Switches (UISwitch) { on/off states }
• Segmented Control (UISegmentedControl) { bar }
• Sliders (UISlider)
• Text Fields (UITextField/UITextView)
• Scrolling behaviour (not Rich text)
• Pickers (UIDatePicker/UIPicker)

• Interface Builder (IB) { DONE
• Dfn: Standalone graphical app dependent on Xcode and iPhone Simulator
• Use: Visual Approach to Responsive User Interface (UI) Design. Live objects are built that link to app code through connections that may be triggered
• XIB (XML) File Output from IB holds interface & non-interface objects that we add visually to the project and are automatically instantiated and accessible when file loaded. XIB file contents:
• File's Owner { object that loads XIB. instantiates other XIB objects }
• First Responder { object that user currently in control and interacting }
• View { instance of UIView visual layout displayed on iPhone. views are hierarchical and contain 'clustered controls' for views within views }
• Document Icons 
• Note: XIB File generated by ticking checkbox "With XIB for user interface" when generating new Class file
• Linking GUI Icons with Code: Open the XIB File, drag an icon to the interface, press CTRL and drag icon on top of the File's Owner Icon
• IB Objects Library (CMD+SHIFT+L)
• Use: Palette of objects to drag and drop into views with help of Guides
• Custom Guides > Layout Add Horiz/Vert Guide
• Size Inspector
• Frame Values exact area object on-screen
• Layout Values allow space around object
• Attributes (Object Properties) Inspector
• Label text editing
• View inherited attributes from 'View superclass to on-screen elements
• Clear Button (X)
• Placeholders
• Keyboard Text Input Traits {Capitalize, Spelling Auto-Correction, Keyboard Type, Appearance (alert view), Return Key (Done, Search, Next, Go), Auto-Enable Return Key (user input req'd before show), Security }
• Scrolling Bounce and Color
• Data Detectors { automatically detects phone numbers, urls, etc..  and convert to helpful links }
• Styled Buttons { Shape, Detail Disclosure (addit info), Info Light/Dark Color, Add Contact (+), Custom (custom button images) }
• State Configuration Menu { changing state interacts with user touches on/off }
• Outlets
• Variables that IB objects references that access/change their contents
• Actions
• Methods called when events occur (object event trigger code actions)
• Connections Inspector { connect event to code action by drag a circle (event to support object) to File's Owner icon }
• Connections
• Joining IB elements to outlets or actions
• Default Connections { i.e. 'web view'  (goForward, goBack), drag button Touch Up Inside event direct to 'web view' instead of File's Owner }
• Identity (Object) Inspector
• Accessibility Attributes
• Voiceover {speech synthesis on touch onscreen elements}
• Accessibility Inspector (Simulator overlay)
• Enable within iPhone Simulator [Hardware Menu > Home], click Nav circle (left-side), [Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility] Inspector
• Building Custom Instances of Classes { instances created when drag objects to interface. manually set identity of objects in IB }

Links:

• iOS Dev Library
• iOS Human Interface Guidelines
• Accessibility Programming Guide for iOS
• UICatalog Examples