Onion Slices

So, I have to say that I was silly again! I've been wanting to learn how to develop on my iPad, and I thought that I would install the tools, and dive in, using some tutorials that I would scrounge from the Internetz. After doing this for a bit, I've decided that I would rather take a more deliberate approach.

I started off with a couple of tutorials on making some iPhone apps that want to introduce the new programmer into the exciting world of the iPhone SDK. Sadly, it's easy to see why most of these people ask for donations for their work, rather than writing a book and charging for it (: The other end of the spectrum are the authors who assume that you are a skilled developer with some mad-Objective-C skillz already under your hat. Bouncing between the two extremes has left me with a desire to actually do things right!

I've been looking around Amazon and I've found a couple of books that look interesting to me, but I think I'll start off with something on Objective-C on the Mac. Most of those books will cover a lot of the programming skills that I learned with C, C++, and Java (all quite rusty skills, I have to admit), while detailing the specifics of a different language, so I'll be able to make sure I don't end up trying to re-invent the wheel to build my apps.

Speaking of apps, this is the first time I've really dug into programming with a specific goal in mind. I have the idea for two applications that I would really like to write. Nothing that I am actually interested in selling or marketing or turning into the next Facebook (ARGH!!!), but they are a goal, and I think that with that goal, I'll be able focus on the end result instead of the process.

With that in mind, I'm going to head out to the book store today and actually put my hands on some beginner's guides. If I don't find anything (well, honestly, even if I do), I have two picked out from Amazon's Kindle Store to download onto my iPad and learn from there. This is turning into an Apple household!