iOS 17 Programming for Beginners: Unlock the world of iOS development with Swift 5.9, Xcode 15, and iOS 17 – your path to App Store success

Sometimes, as a iOS developer you don't know what to recommend, as a gentle introduction, to colleagues who take their first steps into the world of app creation. I'm always on the lookout for resources that strike the right balance between depth and accessibility. "iOS 17 Programming for Beginners," By Ahmad Sahar, the eighth edition in its series, is one such resource I've come across that serves as an excellent starting point for those new to the field.The book is thoughtfully updated with the latest features of iOS 17, macOS 14.0 Sonoma, and Xcode 15, making it a timely and relevant guide for budding developers. It revolves around building "JRNL," a journal app that not only teaches in a practical way the technical skills necessary for an entry in iOS development.What sets this book apart is its immersive approach to Xcode—Apple’s IDE. The guided gradual exploration of the Swift programming language allows even those with a modest programming background to grasp the complexities of Swift, a language that, in the hands of a novice, can often be daunting.The progression through the book is logical and well-structured, with readers first learning to construct a user interface with storyboards and segues, before diving into the mechanics of table views, data handling, maps and location services. The step-by-step approach to adding functionality like JSON data persistence, custom views, and media integration is commendable.It respects a gradual learning curve without oversimplifying the process.The book encourages readers to refine their apps and expand their knowledge digging deeper and starting to familiarise with other source of information.This book provides at least an initial steps level coverage of cutting-edge features like SwiftData and SwiftUI, as well as an introduction to visionOS—Apple's newest venture into augmented reality computing.The final chapters are dedicated to an often-overlooked but crucial aspect of app development—the testing and App Store submission process. This demystifies the journey from development to deployment, a path that many new developers find intimidating.In my professional opinion, "iOS 17 Programming for Beginners" is more than just an instructional manual; it's a comprehensive companion for those starting their journey in iOS development. I confidently recommend it to my junior colleagues, as I believe it will give them a gentle introduction that won't turn them down from their initial steps.

I'm almost done with the book, 2 chapters left, and I learned how to write an IOS app both ways, one using the designer interface and the other in pure code. Without this book, I would still be clueless and would have never got the kick start that I needed. The book is very hard to follow, and writing out the code examples became more and more difficult as I progressed through the book, to the point where my code didn't match up in certain spots and I had to cheat and use the GitHub code to fix my code.Without the book, I would have never learned the rules to IOS, the nomenclature of the parts or components, and the details in what is possible with storing data on a phone, or using a cloud data source. For me, I spent 5 Sundays with the book, and it would take me about 7 Sundays to complete the lessons. There are a couple of typos in the book; mistakes, and some parts are misleading in the Map section.So when I started my ambition to write a phone app, being nudged by my friends, I was going to order about 3 books, one being a Cookbook, but refrained and just ordered this one, which was the right choice after all.I'm not about to try another book to learn, and spend more time learning using this method, so I can't comment on other books on this subject, for I'm going straight to code and will start building my app next week.

The book builds a complete app from scratch. Each chapter adds a new feature and introduces you to new concepts. Do not skip any chapter and make sure you re-read each chapter. Must follow the instructions to build the app yourself in Xcode. By the time you finish the book you'll be confident enough to build your own app and publish it in app store.

Love this book. It's a thick one and I highly recommend it. I started out with next to no knowledge of programming. I bought a book that showed me how to make a few quick apps but it was this book that went into extended detail to explain concepts like data types. I could say more but long reviews are annoying. I'm a beginner who gained a lot of confidence to keep at it because of this book. That's all you really need to know.

Let me start off by saying I have some rudimentary programming experience and, wanting to learn Swift, this seemed like a good place to start.The book starts off easy enough. The lessons are basic and the walkthroughs are helpful.Unfortunately, when I got to chapter 6 (of 27), things started to go off the rails. There are lines of code introduced that have no explanation and, as a true beginner in Swift, are very puzzling. I followed the "for more information" links, but they only take the reader to the Apple created Swift Programming Language reference site, which is a kind of online Swift encyclopedia.And if you're a beginner looking to set your head spinning, this is the site to visit!So I guess I have to look for "more basic than beginner" literature to get up to speed, because this book lost me early on.