iPhone Game Development - Chris Craft [157]
Refining your skills
Practice makes perfect, and that principle applies to iPhone development as it does any form of development. This is called experience, and that is why most jobs require a certain level of experience before you are even considered. As you begin to develop on the iPhone, you will likely become discouraged and frustrated, as we did. But don't worry; it will become more natural as you practice more and more.
Study the snippets in this book. Download the examples from http://appsamuckcom and from the Apple sample code library. Study the details of each example and try to learn more than just the specific technology being demonstrated. Look for patterns and practices you can adopt and reuse. Become an expert at finding answers to your questions. Search the Internet for examples that solve problems similar to yours. Search the Apple development forums and ask questions there. If you have a question, chances are that several others have the same question, so ask. Your questions will only help others and the community.
Finally, don't give up. Coming from other languages and disciplines to iPhone development can be tough. However, the best thing about developing for the iPhone is the reward. It is an incredibly satisfying experience. Once your see your creations take life on-screen in the palm of your hand, you will be hooked.
Answering the question: Is there more?
In short, the answer is yes! There is much more to learn and there will continue to be more. The iPhone SDK is a living and breathing project. It can be challenging to keep up with the changes; in fact, we had to change course while writing this book to include 3.0. Also, Apple released the iPhone 3GS, which introduced a whole new API for reading directional data from the internal compass.
The first iPhone was released in 2007; Tables 10.5, 10.6, and 10.7 list what the OS release schedule has been from then until the time of this writing.
Table 10.5 1.x: First Release of the iPhone OS
Version
Release Date
1.0
Jun 2007
1.0.1
Jul 2007
1.0.2
Aug 2007
1.1
Sep 2007
1.1.1
Sep 2007
1.1.2
Nov 2007
1.1.3
Jan 2008
1.1.4
Feb 2008
1.1.5
Jul 2008
(This was the release that introduced the App Store)
Table 10.6 2.x: Second Major Version of iPhone OS Released with the iPhone 3G
Version
Release Date
2.0
Jul 2008
2.0.1
Aug 2008
2.0.2
Aug 2008
2.1
Sep 2008
2.1.1
Sep 2008
2.2
Nov 2008
2.2.1
Jan 2009
Table 10.7 3.x: Third Major Version of iPhone OS Released with the iPhone 3GS
Version
Release Date
3.0 B1
Mar 2009
3.0 B2
Mar 2009
3.0 B3
Apr 2009
3.0 B4
Apr 2009
3.0 B5
May 2009
3.0 GM
Jun 2009
3.0
Jun 2009
As you can see, this is an intense schedule. With every step in the release cycle you must be vigilant and adapt to features and changes that can trip you up or offer opportunity. These changes can render your application obsolete and potentially break your existing code, or they can open the door for you to greatly enhance your game. The point is that you must keep a watchful eye on all changes as they come, or pay the price of falling behind. With the 3.0 release alone, several enhancement features and changes were applied, including the following:
Spotlight Search
Cut, copy, paste
Earth magnetic compass (iPhone 3GS only)
In-application maps
MMS functionality (iPhone 3G and up) to send pictures, audio files, and more
Push notification for third-party applications
Peer-to-peer connectivity
Access to the iPod music library
In-app payment API for paid application add-on features
Apple tends to cluster their most significant changes around major releases. Apple also tends to limit and restrict access for certain releases and certain related features. For example, very few developers had access