Objective-C 2.0 Essentials

This on-line book is currently under development. It is scheduled for completion in November 2009.

1. About Objective-C Essentials
   • Why are you reading this?
   • Supported Platforms
     
     
2. The History of Objective-C
   • The C Programming Language
   • The Smalltalk programming Language
   • C meets Smalltalk
   • Objective-C and Apple
     
     
3. Installing Xcode and Compiling Objective-C on Mac OS X
   • Installing Xcode on Mac OS X
   • Starting Xcode
   • Starting a New Project
   • Writing an Objective-C Application with Xcode
   • Compiling Objective-C from the Command Line
     
     
4. Installing and using GNUstep and Objective-C on Windows
   • Downloading the GNUstep Packages
   • Installing MinGW and GNUstep on Windows
   • Running the GNUstep Shell
   • Testing the Installation
     
     
5. Installing and Using GNUstep and Objective-C on Linux
   • Installing GNUstep on Ubuntu
   • Compiling Objective-C Code
     
     
6. Building and Installing GNUstep on Linux
   • Installing gcc and Objective-C Support on Linux
   • Package Dependencies
   • Obtaining the GNUstep Source Code
   • Configuring the Build Process
   • Building GNUstep
   • Testing the Objective-C and GNUstep Installation
   • Compiling Objective-C Code
     
     
7. Objective-C 2.0 Data Types
   • int Data Type
   • char Data Type
   • Special Characters/Escape Sequences
   • float Data Type
   • double Data Type
   • id Data Type
   • BOOL Data Type
   • Objective-C Data Type Qualifiers
   • long
   • long long
   • short
   • signed / unsigned
     
     
8. Working with Variables and Constants in Objective-C
   • What is an Objective-C Variable
   • What is an Objective-C Constant?
   • Type Casting Objective-C Variables
     
     
9. Objective-C Operators and Expressions
   • What is an Expression?
   • The Basic Assignment Operator
   • Objective-C Arithmetic Operators
   • Compound Assignment Operators
   • Increment and Decrement Operators
   • Comparison Operators
   • Boolean Logical Operators
   • The Ternary Operator
   • Bitwise Operators
   • Bitwise AND
   • Bitwise OR
   • Bitwise XOR
   • Bitwise Left Shift
   • Bitwise Right Shift
   • Compound Bitwise Operators
     
     
10. Objective-C Flow Control with if and else
    • Using the if Statement
    • Using if ... else .. Statements
    • Using if ... else if .. Statements
    • Summary
      
      
11. The Objective-C switch Statement
    • Why Use a switch Statement?
    • Using the switch Statement Syntax
    • A switch Statement Example
    • Explaining the Example
    • Combining case Statements
      
      
12. Objective-C Looping - The for Statement
    • Why Use Loops?
    • Objective-C Loop Variable Scope
    • Creating an Infinite for Loop
    • Breaking Out of a for Loop
    • Nested for Loops
    • Breaking from Nested Loops
    • Continuing for Loops
    • Using for Loops with Multiple Variables
      
      
13. Objective-C Looping with do and while Statements
    • The Objective-C while Loop
    • Objective-C do ... while loops
    • Breaking from Loops
    • The continue Statement
      
      
14. An Overview of Objective-C Object Oriented Programming
    • What is an Object?
    • What is a Class?
    • Declaring an Objective-C Class Implementation
    • Adding Instance Variables to a Class
    • Define Class Methods
    • Declaring an Objective-C Class Implementation
    • Declaring, Initializing and Releasing a Class Instance
    • Calling Methods and Accessing Instance Data
    • Creating the Program Section
    • Bringing it all Together
    • Structuring Object-Oriented Objective-C Code
      
      
15. Writing Objective-C Class Methods
    • Instance and Class Methods
    • Creating a New Class Method
    • The @interface Section
    • The @implementation Section
    • The main() Function
      
      
16. Objective-C - Data Encapsulation, Synthesized Accessors and Dot Notation
    • Data Encapsulation
    • Synthesized Accessor Methods
    • Direct Access to Encapsulated Data
    • Objective-C and Dot Notation
    • Controlling Access to Instance Variables
      
      
17. Objective-C Inheritance
    • Inheritance, Classes and Subclasses
    • An Objective-C Inheritance Example
    • Extending the Functionality of a Subclass
    • Overriding Inherited Methods
      
      
18. Objective-C Dynamic Binding and Typing with the id Type
    • Static Typing vs Dynamic Typing
    • Dynamic Binding
    • Polymorphism
      
      
19. Objective-C Variable Scope and Storage Class
    • Variable Scope
    • Block Scope
    • Function Scope
    • Global Scope
    • File Scope
    • Variable Storage Class
      
      
20. An Overview of Objective-C Functions
    • What is a Function?
    • How to Declare an Objective-C Function
    • Calling an Objective-C Function
    • Function Prototypes
    • Function Scope and the static Specifier
    • Static Variables in Functions
      
      
21. Objective-C Enumerators
    • Why Use Enumerators
    • Declaring an Enumeration
    • Creating and Using an Enumeration
    • Enumerators and Variable Names
      
      
22. An Overview of the Objective-C Foundation Framework
    • The Foundation Framework
    • Including the Foundation Headers
    • Finding the Foundation Framework Documentation
      
      
23. Working with String Objects in Objective-C
    • Strings without NSString
    • Declaring Constant String Objects
    • Creating Mutable and Immutable String Objects
    • Getting the Length of a String
    • Copying a String
    • Searching for a Substring
    • Replacing Parts of a String
    • String Search and Replace
    • Deleting Sections of a String
    • Extracting a Subsection of a String
    • Inserting Text into a String
    • Appending Text to the End of a String
    • Comparing Strings
    • Checking for String Prefixes and Suffixes
    • Converting to Upper or Lower Case
    • Converting Strings to Numbers
    • Converting a String Object to ASCII
      
      
24. Understanding Objective-C Number Objects
    • Creating and Initializing NSNumber Objects
    • Getting the Value of a Number Object
    • Comparing Number Objects
    • Getting the Number Object Value as a String
      
      
25. Working with Objective-C Array Objects
    • Mutable and Immutable Arrays
    • Creating an Array Object
    • Finding out the Number of Elements in an Array
    • Accessing the Elements of an Array object
    • Adding Elements to an Array Object
    • Inserting Elements into an Array
    • Deleting Elements from an Array Object
    • Sorting Array Objects
      
      
26. Objective-C Dictionary Objects
    • What are Dictionary Objects?
    • Creating Dictionary Objects
    • Initializing and Adding Entries to a Dictionary Object
    • Getting an Entry Count
    • Accessing Dictionary Entries
    • Removing Entries from a Dictionary Object
      
      
27. Working with Directories in Objective-C
    • The Objective-C NSFileManager, NSFileHandle and NSData Classes
    • Understanding Pathnames in Objective-C
    • Creating an NSFileManager Instance Object
    • Identifying the Current Working Directory
    • Changing to a Different Directory
    • Creating a New Directory
    • [[Working with Directories in Objective-C|Deleting a Directory]
    • Renaming or Moving a Directory
    • Getting a Directory File Listing
    • Getting the Attributes of a File or Directory
      
      
28. Working with Files in Objective-C