Error: I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of a "rss;>augment" flavoured Blosxom. Try dropping the "/+rss;>augment" bit from the end of the URL.
Xcode Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
If you're programming in Xcode, it pays to know some keyboard shortcuts. Of course, there are a ton of shortcuts you could learn. And some guys know them all. I'm not one of those guys. I tend to use a fairly small, high-impact set of essential shortcuts. Through repeated use on my day-to-day work, they become automatic. Then once in a while I'll discover a new shortcut, and if I use it often enough it'll stick.
If you're feeling a tad overwhelmed by all the Xcode shortcuts, here's a place to start: my Xcode keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet. It's relatively short by IDE cheat sheet standards (only 45 shortcuts), and I like it that way. It's the sweet spot for what I can remember. And by focusing on just these shortcuts I've become a lot more productive in Xcode. These are the same shortcuts I teach visually in my Becoming Productive in Xcode screencasts. The best way to see how I work in Xcode is to check 'em out!
On a related note, here's a chance to practice your Xcode shortcuts: Attend an iPhone Studio this summer! We have two courses scheduled in August—in Reston, VA and Denver, CO—covering the new iPhone 3.0 SDK. I think it's the best way to quickly get up to speed on iPhone development. Every time I've sat in on one, I've learned something new from the instructors. It's a fun 4 days of hands-on programming, and we promise you won't go away hungry.
#MacRuby Screencast, and an iPhone Studio
If you're a faithful Rubyist with a Mac, you owe it to yourself to check out MacRuby. It's an implementation of Ruby 1.9 that runs on the Objective-C 2.0 runtime (the two languages share a common ancestor in Smalltalk). That means you have the full power of Ruby and all the Objective-C and Cocoa frameworks at your fingertips. And unlike RubyCocoa, with MacRuby there's no bridge to cross. So there's a lot of potential upside when it comes to performance. And I prefer the MacRuby messaging-sending syntax over the style used in RubyCocoa.
So, in hopes of helping spread the good word, I've put together a free, 20-minute MacRuby screencast.
Now, MacRuby is still a work in progress. I've found the current version (0.4) to be quite stable for Cocoa development, though I've run into problems using RubyGems that have C extensions. Nevertheless, I continue to be impressed with MacRuby. And there are some exciting developments on the horizon, including a new virtual machine based on the LLVM compiler. Does that mean you'll be able to use Ruby to write iPhone apps some day? Only Apple knows. But given that MacRuby relies on the Objective-C garbage collector (which isn't on the phone), I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime, I think MacRuby is going to become increasingly popular, especially among Rubyists interested in building Cocoa apps.
On a related note, we've opened registration for the next iPhone Development Studio in Reston, VA on August 4-7. We're hoping that by delaying it until a while after WWDC that iPhone OS 3.0 will be released. This is a fun class, and a great way to quickly come up to speed on iPhone development. Plus you'll learn Cocoa patterns and techniques you can apply to your MacRuby application. Come for the phone, stay for the Cocoa!
#Studio Bonus Tracks
I almost always watch the bonus tracks included with movies on DVD. It's fun to see the scenes that didn't make it into the final movie, for one reason or another. I especially enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes look at the tricks and techniques the crew used to shoot a particular scene. Want to know how they pulled off that amazing car chase in the city? It's in the bonus track. It's all extra stuff you can skip, but the bonus tracks often contain real gems of information. Watching them usually gives me a greater appreciation for the movie.
Since last summer we've been running iPhone training courses and producing iPhone-related screencast video tutorials. Unfortunately, even in a 4-day course or a 1-hour screencast, you have to leave some stuff on the cutting room floor. Though we're learning new iPhone development tips and tricks every day, they don't all get brought up during a course or warrant a full-length video tutorial. But it's good stuff we don't want you to miss!
So, this week we're rolling out our own series of bonus tracks. These are free, short screencasts focused on a single iPhone tip, trick, or technique that you can quickly apply. I'm kicking it off with three tracks. We plan to release a new bonus track every week or so to keep you on top of your game.
Whether you've attended one of our courses or not, we hope you enjoy these bonus tracks all the same. All we ask is that you'd leave a comment once in a while to let us know how we're doing, and spread the word. :-)
Thanks, and enjoy!
#iPhone Developer's Roadmap
Folks often ask me how I got into iPhone development, where they should start, and which resources I recommend. To be honest, I usually kinda stumble my way through new things rather than taking a guided approach. But the iPhone learning curve was a little different for me. It was literally a multi-year process of learning blocks of the development stack: Objective-C, Cocoa, Xcode, Interface Builder, and so on. It was mostly just for fun, although I ended up writing several articles for Apple along the way. What I didn't know was that the journey would eventually reach a crescendo with iPhone development.
So how do you get into iPhone development? Well, that depends. If you're a seasoned C programmer, your starting point will be different from someone new to programming. But both of you will wind up learning object-oriented programming to use the Cocoa Touch libraries. And perhaps you'll even discover that programming isn't for you. That's ok. There are plenty of good iPhone programmers you can team up with to help turn your idea into an application. Everyone approaches the learning curve from a different perspective. There is no "right" way for everyone.
That being said, a general roadmap with a few landmarks might still be useful. So, based on my experience and what I've heard from students of our iPhone course, I've put together an iPhone Developer's Roadmap.
It opens with some pointers to help you find a suitable place to begin your journey. Then, for each general stage, you'll find definitions for common lingo and resources to help you dig deeper. And what can I say: I'm a little biased. You'll find a few Pragmatic choices in there, both free and those that support an author. But I also mention other resources that I've found valuable. It's not meant to be a comprehensive collection of all the fine resources out there. So please treat all these as jumping off points.
Enjoy, and welcome to developing on the iPhone!
#Conferences I'm Attending
Nothing re-energizes the developer in me like a good conference, and the long nap afterwards. And whaddaya know, it's conference season:
RailsConf: It's hard to believe this is the fourth RailsConf! Things have come a long way, but one thing has remained constant: The Rails community is a melting pot of great people. (OK, some take longer to thaw than others.) I love the diversity of this crowd, and I'm looking forward to learning from them once again this year. I'm going to try to share some of the work I've been doing with iPhone and Rails, too. If you've been wondering how to get into iPhone development, I'd be honored if you'd attend my talk.
WWDC: Did I mention how long that nap was afterwards? WWDC is a monster of a conference. I'm just speculating here, but iPhone 3.0 may crank things up a notch or two. Maybe. I took a couple years off (it's not that kind of a nap) to work around summer plans. With all the work I've been doing lately on iPhone though, this year is a no-brainer for me.
If you plan to attend one of these conferences, I hope to meet you!
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