My professional coding career has gone from large to small in a variety of ways. I started on 3279 terminals at IBM, and with each professional move (from Ericsson to Travelocity and others) I went to smaller machines and smaller companies. Now I work on computers you can fit in your pocket and at a company of one: me.

When I first started working in mobile development, I used J2ME on various phones, including Blackberries. When I got the chance to work on an iPhone, I purchased my first MacBook and loved it! It wasn’t until sometime later that I realized that I had gotten in at the beginning of the mobile wave. Solving problems alone, and often under non-disclosure agreements, I learned a lot, and as each new version of the OS came out, it got easier and better. The platform quickly became more sophisticated, and so did the user.

Then Manning approached me to talk about a book on iOS development, and I was surprised how clear and formed my opinions were about what should be included. I had learned a lot on my own—from frameworks to widgets to the UI to MVC and more—and I felt that emphasis was often placed on the wrong areas. I also felt that the sample code provided by Apple was underemphasized. I believe that project-based learning is the best—at least it is for me—and seeing how the different parts of a project come together is not only useful but necessary to make sense of the project and put it into context.

I was flattered that Manning asked me to write this book and I hope it will help you to learn iOS development—and to put it into practice.