Appendix A. Getting the Most from Xcode Documentation

The documentation that comes with the iOS SDK will become a frequent destination when you want to remind yourself about syntax details or discover frameworks features you may not have met yet. The amount of material is staggering, and Apple and its Developer Tools group must be congratulated for efforts to build a documentation system that is genuinely helpful to developers. Recent SDK versions have included more guides to using the documentation. Choosing Help→Developer Documentation in Xcode opens the documentation window with a Quick Start page. You can’t go wrong taking advantage of the material presented there, including several tutorial videos that acquaint you with the overall system. What I hope to accomplish here, however, is to present tips on understanding some of the things you see once you start digging into the documentation and learn how to dig out the truly valuable pieces.

After you’ve watched the tutorial videos, I suggest visiting the “home page” of the iOS SDK documentation. In the documentation window, pull down the Home menu (near the top left corner) and choose the newest iOS SDK version listed. The window will fill with three panes that present an overview (perhaps overwhelming) of the documents relevant to iOS development, shown in Figure A-1.

Home page for iOS SDK development documentation

Figure A-1. Home page for iOS SDK development documentation

Picking ...

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