iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual

Chapter 6. A Flashlight for Pros

Now that you have your development environment up and running, it's time to start writing code. That's a daunting task when you're dealing with a new language, framework, and platform. That first line of code is hard to write when so many things are so different. Rather than pore through reams and reams of documentation and sample code, you're going to do something a little different now. You're going to look at a complete product that was created by an experienced iPhone developer.

The focus of this chapter is not to completely cover every aspect of the programming APIs that are available. Instead, you get a guided tour full of tips and tricks. In essence, you get to sit and watch a pro build an iPhone app. The goal is to teach common patterns and best practices that you can use in your own applications.

A Guided Tour

Luckily, the product to be constructed in this chapter is one that you're already familiar with: a flashlight! The design that you struggled with in Chapter 4 comes to life before your eyes. If you haven't done so already, download the Flashlight Pro project from the Missing CD page (www.missingmanuals.com/cds). Everything in this tour references the code in that project.

Tip

Don't be afraid to experiment with this code. In fact, in several areas you can learn a lot by tweaking things. As every good programmer knows, this craft is honed by years and years of trial and error! If you end up breaking the thing irreparably, just download ...