Learning Xcode 8

Product DescriptionLearn how to use the power of Xcode to turn your next great app idea into a reality About This Book * Learn the theory and tools behind app development using Swift 3 and Xcode 8 * Build a fully featured iOS app, including a companion app for the Apple Watch * Optimize, debug, and ultimately release your app on Test Flight and the App Store Who This Book Is For This book is intended for programmers looking to get a jump-start into the world of iOS development. Whether youre a young student who has only spent a few months with Java, or a seasoned developer who has spent their career developing for a different platform, all that is expected is a basic understanding of a programming language such as C++, C#, or Java. What You Will Learn * Understand the most important features of the Xcode IDE * Write Swift 3 code for application data models and view controllers * Prepare visual layouts for an iOS application using storyboards, size classes, and auto-layout * Integrate many common technologies into an app, such as multi-touch gestures, CoreData, and notifications * Build companion applications for the Apple Watch with watchOS 3 * Debug applications using Xcodes suite of debugging tools, and prevent bugs with unit testing * Optimize an application using Xcode 8s profiling tools and asset catalogs * Distribute a beta application through TestFlight, and a finished application through the App Store In Detail Over the last few years, weve seen a breakthrough in mobile computing and the birth of world-changing mobile apps. With a reputation as one of the most user-centric and developer-friendly platforms, iOS is the best place to launch your next great app idea. As the official tool to create iOS applications, Xcode is chock full of features aimed at making a developers job easier, faster, and more fun. This book will take you from complete novice to a published app developer, and covers every step in between. Youll learn the basics of iOS application development by taking a guided tour through the Xcode software and Swift programming language, before putting that knowledge to use by building your first app called Snippets. Over the course of the book, you will continue to explore the many facets of iOS development in Xcode by adding new features to your app, integrating gestures and sensors, and even creating an Apple Watch companion app. Youll also learn how to use the debugging tools, write unit tests, and optimize and distribute your app. By the time you make it to the end of this book, you will have successfully built and published your first iOS application. Style and approach This easy-to-follow guide presents topics in a hands-on lecture format where concepts are introduced and explained, then used in an example as reinforcement. The first third of the book covers the separate building blocks of development, while the second two thirds cover the development of an app from start to finish.About the AuthorJak Tiano is an iOS and game developer living in Burlington, VT. In 2015 he graduated with top honors from the game development program at Champlain College, and is now programming educational robotics games at Xemory Software. In his spare time, he always keeping up with the latest iOS technologies. Jak first learned how to code as a freshman in high school, when the very first iPhone SDK was released. After a year of learning the basics of C++ and Objective-C, he released his first iPhone app in the summer of 2009. Since then, he has programmed over 30 iOS apps and games, releasing a handful along the way. In both 2013 and 2014, he attended Apples World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco on direct scholarship from Apple. Hes been programming with Swift exclusively since its release in 2014, and has served as a technical reviewer on Swift 2 Blueprints, Cecil Costa, Packt Publishing.