8 great resources on how to make your first iPhone app

Do you want to learn how to develop iPhone apps? I’ve compiled a short list of hiqh-quality articles and tutorials aimed at the complete novice who has at least a working understanding of what code is, or who has tinkered with HTML and CSS. The hardest part is getting started! These articles come at the topic from all angles, so read them all and get informed.

• How to create an iPhone/iPod Application: Lesson 1, the basics A great article with an easy app that is filled with great comments in the code. Very verbose, non-techie language. If you want to see what’s under the hood of simple app, here you go.
• iPhone Developer Center at Apple You’ll be spending a lot of time here getting great content to help you develop an app. You’ll find Getting Started documents, the Application Programming Guide, Objective-C primers, help working on your first app, and lots of sample code to mess around with. Don’t forget the forums you get access to after you pay the registration fee.
• How to write an iPhone app This article is a gem if you are really a clueless newbie. It’s a short, non-technical overview of the entire process which covers how to get started with an idea, right through to the approval process to get your app in the App Store. If you have no understanding of how iPhone app development works from soup to nuts, this is the one article you should read today.
• Writing code for the iPhone. How? Writing software is a very human process. This poor sod seems to understand that quite well. With humility like this, he’s bound to succeed, for he begins his request for information in this manner: “How does a moron like me learn how to write code for the iPhone?”. If you identify with this meek attitude, read the short dialogue. It’s not going to teach you much code, but I think this banter reveals a lot of the paradigm you’ll encounter as you struggle forward in your development efforts.
• Stanford University iTunes U “iPhone Application Development” Open iTunes and go to the last tab on the top of the iTunes Store front page called “iTunes U”. Look for or search for Stanford University free lectures in video or audio format. A real gem.
• How to Write Your First iPhone Program (PDF) A short, pithy, smart article on how to write the simplest iPhone app that has one button, and nothing more. All the basics to meditate on are here. Basic, indeed, but necessary. Nice big visuals including screen shots of XCode, the Apple iPhone and Mac development platform, are included so you can see the development process in action.
• My first iPhone application This is a GREAT read! It is like a diary of what happened along the way from the idea of an app to the approval of the app in the App Store. It’s as much a human interest story as there can be in the world of programming. From an emotional perspective, reading success stories (as in developing an app and getting it on the Store) like this is the fuel you need to make it over the hump of learning how to do iPhone application development.
• iPhone Programming Tutorial – Connecting Code to An Interface Builder View This is fantastic hands-on tutorial of what is involved to get Interface Builder to wire up some buttons for you in your app. It’s long, has lot’s of screen shots, and there are excellent comments at the bottom of the article. The comments are great because they really help you understand the mindset needed to program.