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iOS 10 Programming for Beginners
iOS 10 Programming for Beginners

iOS 10 Programming for Beginners: Explore the latest iOS 10 and Swift 3 features

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iOS 10 Programming for Beginners

Chapter 2. Building a Foundation with Swift

Now that we have had a short tour of Xcode, it is time to start learning about Swift. Remember, if you are new to programming, things will be very different for you, so take your time. The important skills that you will learn here will set you up with a solid foundation in iOS development. If you have previous programming experience, you should still review this chapter, as it can only enhance your programming skills and act as a refresher for you.

On June 2, 2014, Apple changed the game for iOS development, because this was the day Swift was announced to the world. With this announcement, everybody was put on an even playing field, because they had to learn a new programming language. Swift has brought a more modern approach to developing apps and has seen a huge influx of new developers of all ages wanting to build iOS apps. But, enough about history! Let's dig in and see what you are going to learn.

The following will be covered...

Playgrounds – an interactive coding environment

Before we jump into building the app that we will be creating in later chapters, called Let's Eat, we need to understand the basics of Swift. An easy way to experiment with Swift is to use Playgrounds. It is an interactive coding environment, which evaluates your code and displays the results. Using Playgrounds gives us the ability to work with Swift without needing to create a project. It is great for prototyping a particular part of your app. So, whether you are learning or experimenting, Playgrounds is an invaluable tool. In order to create a Playground, we need to launch Xcode and click on Get started with a playground:

Playgrounds – an interactive coding environment

The options screen for creating a new Playground screen will appear:

Playgrounds – an interactive coding environment

First, name your new Playground SwiftFoundation, and then make sure your Platform is set to iOS. Now, we can explore Playgrounds a bit.

When you launch the app, you will see five distinct areas:

Playgrounds – an interactive coding environment

Let's breakdown each area in Playgrounds:

  • PLAYGROUND...

Data types – where it all starts

Swift offers a collection of built-in data types. Data types are known as string, integer, floating-point numbers, and Booleans. These data types can be found in most programming languages. Therefore, if you are not new to programming, you can skip this section and start at the variables and constants section here.

Let's walk through each data type for those of you who are new to programming or would like a refresher.

String

The first data type we will discuss is a string. A string is represented by a series of characters. strings are used to display text in an app. When a string is wrapped in quotes, it is known as a string literal. In programming, we cannot just add text into Playgrounds. So, in order to write a string, we must wrap our string inside of quotes. Let's now add our name into Playgrounds wrapped in quotes:

String

In Playgrounds, your values also will appear inside of your Results panel. So, we now know that, in order to create a String...

Comments – leaving yourself notes or reminders

Comments are a great way to create notes or reminders to yourself. When you comment code, it means that it will not be executed when your code runs. There are two types of comments used // or /* */. // is typically used for a one-line comment and /**/ is used for a block of text.

You can add comments to your code, such as a TODO item or just a brief explanation of what something is doing.

Let's see what both of these look like:

Comments – leaving yourself notes or reminders

Type safety and type inference

Swift is a type-safe language, which means that you are encouraged to be clear about the types of values with which your code will work. Type inference means that before your code runs, it will be able to quickly check to ensure that you did not set anything to a different type. If you do, Xcode will give you an error. Why is this good? Let's say that you have an app in the store, and you set one of your variables as a String in one part of your code, but then accidentally set the same variable as an Int in another part of your code. This error may cause some bad behavior in your app that could cause it to crash. Finding these kind of errors is like finding a needle in a haystack. Therefore, type checking helps you write safer code by helping you avoid errors when working with different types.

We have now looked at data types and know that strings are for textual data, Int for Integer, Bool for Boolean, and a Double and a Float for floating-point numbers...

Operations with our Integers

In our Playground, we know that numAge is an Int, but with Ints, we also can write arithmetic expressions using numbers, variables/constants, operators, and parentheses. Let's start with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Add the following into Xcode:

// (+) operator
let numSum = 23 + 20
// (-) operator
let numResult = 32 - numSum
// (*) operator
let numTotal = numResult * 5
// (/) operator
let numDivide = numTotal / 10
Operations with our Integers

So, numSum added two integers (+ operator) together, totaling 43 in our preceding example. Then, we subtracted (- operator) numSum from 32 to create numResult (−11 in our example). After that, we took numResult and multiplied (* operator) it by 5 (see -55 in the Results panel). All of this is pretty basic math—however, you may have noticed something different with our division equation (/ operator). When you divide two integers, the result will be a third integer. So, instead of -55 divided by 10 equaling -5...

Playgrounds – an interactive coding environment


Before we jump into building the app that we will be creating in later chapters, called Let's Eat, we need to understand the basics of Swift. An easy way to experiment with Swift is to use Playgrounds. It is an interactive coding environment, which evaluates your code and displays the results. Using Playgrounds gives us the ability to work with Swift without needing to create a project. It is great for prototyping a particular part of your app. So, whether you are learning or experimenting, Playgrounds is an invaluable tool. In order to create a Playground, we need to launch Xcode and click on Get started with a playground:

The options screen for creating a new Playground screen will appear:

First, name your new Playground SwiftFoundation, and then make sure your Platform is set to iOS. Now, we can explore Playgrounds a bit.

When you launch the app, you will see five distinct areas:

Let's breakdown each area in Playgrounds:

  • PLAYGROUND EDITOR: This...

Data types – where it all starts


Swift offers a collection of built-in data types. Data types are known as string, integer, floating-point numbers, and Booleans. These data types can be found in most programming languages. Therefore, if you are not new to programming, you can skip this section and start at the variables and constants section here.

Let's walk through each data type for those of you who are new to programming or would like a refresher.

String

The first data type we will discuss is a string. A string is represented by a series of characters. strings are used to display text in an app. When a string is wrapped in quotes, it is known as a string literal. In programming, we cannot just add text into Playgrounds. So, in order to write a string, we must wrap our string inside of quotes. Let's now add our name into Playgrounds wrapped in quotes:

In Playgrounds, your values also will appear inside of your Results panel. So, we now know that, in order to create a String, we need to use...

Comments – leaving yourself notes or reminders


Comments are a great way to create notes or reminders to yourself. When you comment code, it means that it will not be executed when your code runs. There are two types of comments used // or /* */. // is typically used for a one-line comment and /**/ is used for a block of text.

You can add comments to your code, such as a TODO item or just a brief explanation of what something is doing.

Let's see what both of these look like:

Type safety and type inference


Swift is a type-safe language, which means that you are encouraged to be clear about the types of values with which your code will work. Type inference means that before your code runs, it will be able to quickly check to ensure that you did not set anything to a different type. If you do, Xcode will give you an error. Why is this good? Let's say that you have an app in the store, and you set one of your variables as a String in one part of your code, but then accidentally set the same variable as an Int in another part of your code. This error may cause some bad behavior in your app that could cause it to crash. Finding these kind of errors is like finding a needle in a haystack. Therefore, type checking helps you write safer code by helping you avoid errors when working with different types.

We have now looked at data types and know that strings are for textual data, Int for Integer, Bool for Boolean, and a Double and a Float for floating-point numbers. Let...

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Key benefits

  • Use Swift 3 and latest iOS 10 features to build awesome apps for iPhone and iPad
  • Explore and use a wide range of Apple development tools to become a confident iOS developer
  • From prototype to App Store—find out how to build an app from start to finish!

Description

You want to build iOS applications for iPhone and iPad—but where do you start? Forget sifting through tutorials and blog posts, this is a direct route into iOS development, taking you through the basics and showing you how to put the principles into practice. With every update, iOS has become more and more developer-friendly, so take advantage of it and begin building applications that might just take the App Store by storm! Whether you’re an experienced programmer or a complete novice, this book guides you through every facet of iOS development. From Xcode and Swift—the building blocks of modern Apple development—and Playgrounds for beginners, one of the most popular features of the iOS development experience, you’ll quickly gain a solid foundation to begin venturing deeper into your development journey. For the experienced programmer, jump right in and learn the latest iOS 10 features. You’ll also learn the core elements of iOS design, from tables to tab bars, as well as more advanced topics such as gestures and animations that can give your app the edge. Find out how to manage databases, as well as integrating standard elements such as photos, GPS into your app. With further guidance on beta testing with TestFlight, you’ll quickly learn everything you need to get your project on the App Store!

Who is this book for?

This book is for beginners who want to be able to create iOS applications. If you have some programming experience, this book is a great way to get a full understanding of how to create an iOS application from scratch and submit it to the App Store. You do not need any knowledge of Swift or any prior programming experience.

What you will learn

  • Get to grips with Swift 3 and Xcode, the building blocks of Apple development
  • Get to know the fundamentals of Swift, including variables, constants, and control flow
  • Discover the distinctive design principles that define the iOS user experience
  • See how to prototype your app with Swift's Playgrounds feature
  • Build a responsive UI that looks great on a range of devices
  • Find out how to use CoreLocation to add location services to your app
  • Add push notifications to your app
  • Make your app able to be used on both iPhone and iPad

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Publication date : Dec 27, 2016
Length: 678 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
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Table of Contents

19 Chapters
1. Getting Familiar with Xcode Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Building a Foundation with Swift Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Digging Deeper Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Digging into Collections Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Starting the UI Setup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Setting Up UI Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Getting Started with the Grid Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Getting Started with the List Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Working More with Lists Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Where Are We? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. Where's My Data? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
12. Foodie Reviews Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
13. Saving Reviews Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
14. Universal Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
15. iMessages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
16. Notifications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
17. Just a Peek Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
18. Beta and Store Submission Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5
(2 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 50%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Amazon Customer Nov 07, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Amazing help. Well written.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Dimitri Shvorob Aug 13, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Given the immense popularity of iOS programming, I am surprised by how limited the options for people wishing to learn it are. Having now seen eight iOS titles - see my other reviews - I can only recommend two titles as possible choices: "iOS Programming" by Keur and Hillegass, and this book. The Keur-Hillegass book seems to be the market leader, but I actually prefer Clayton's. "iOS 10 Programming for Beginners" covers less ground, but its writing shows more care, and its slow-and-steady approach is appropriate for a beginner's book. You will still need Keur-Hillegass, but I would suggest starting with this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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