Cocoa Design Patterns by Erik M. Buck & Donald A. Yacktman
Overview: A book designed to give programmers a deeper understanding of design patterns and practical applications.
Review: There are all manner of Objective-C tutorial books on the market, and most of those only somewhat touch on Cocoa. It was high time that the Mac programming community had a book that got to the heart of the design principles of Cocoa, and this one is exactly what every programmer has been waiting for. Even the most veteran Mac programmer will get something out of this book as it delves into the most important Cocoa patterns and then goes on to show how they are all interrelated. The book may be a little much for newcomers to Cocoa programming, especially if they have had little or no experience with Objective-C, but will be a definite must read for those with at least some previous programming background.
Cocoa and Objective-C: Up and Running: Foundations of Mac, iPhone, and iPod Touch Programming by Scott Stevenson
Overview: Designed to be useful for relative newcomers to programming as well as those with years of experience, this fantastic book provides a ton of great information on designing Cocoa frameworks and working with Objective-C.
Review: Mr. Stevenson has created a fantastic guide that basically takes the reader by the hand and guides them through the process of getting started with Cocoa programming. The first few chapters give the reader the tools they will need to get started by explaining a little about what Cocoa does, as well as showing the basics of the code that they will be leaning more about in the coming chapters. Before long the reader is shown fantastic examples of object oriented programming that give a much clearer indication of exactly what can be achieved by fully understanding Cocoa and Objective-C. By the end of the book the reader will be able to create interfaces that can be wired into their own code. The author does a fantastic job of peeling back the many layers that run through Cocoa, Objective-C, and all the way down to the C language core, and shows the reader exactly how they all come together in the final design.
Cocoa Programming Developer’s Handbook by David Chisnall
Overview: Cocoa programming is fast becoming the basis for the majority of Apple related programming, especially as it is used predominantly for creating objects for mobile devices. This is the book that aims to show exactly what makes Cocoa tick.
Review: Many books on this subject will rely heavily on talking about Cocoa while glossing over Objective-C and vice versa, bur Mr. Chisnall has done a fantastic job of showing how the two work together by going in depth on the conceptual side of programming. It may be a tough read for newcomers as the excellent information contained within the pages is presented in a very scientific manner that can be hard to get through in a single read. It should also be noted that there a number of glaring typos, but the fact that they don’t detract from the information gives you a good idea of the quality of this title.