iPhone Cool Projects (Paperback)

The iPhone and iPod touch have provided all software developers with a level playing field—developers working alone have the same access to consumers as multinational software publishers. Very cool indeed! To make your application stand out from the crowd, though, it has to have that something extra. You must learn the skills to take your apps from being App Store filler to download chart-topping blockbusters.

Developers with years of experience helped write this book. Spend some time understanding their code and why they took the approach they did. You will find the writing, illustrations, code, and sample applications second to none. No matter what type of application you are writing, you will find something in this book to help you make your app that little bit cooler.

The book opens with Wolfgang Ante, the developer behind the Frenzic puzzle game, showing how timers, animation, and intelligence are used to make game play engaging. It moves on to Rogue Amoeba's Mike Ash explaining how to design a network protocol using UDP, and demonstrating its use in a peer-to-peer application—a topic not normally for the faint of heart, but explained here in a way that makes sense to mere mortals. Gary Bennett then covers the important task of multithreading. Multithreading can be used to keep the user interface responsive while working on other tasks in the background. Gary demonstrates how to do this and highlights traps to avoid along the way.

Next up, Canis Lupus (aka Matthew Rosenfeld) describes the development of the Keynote-controlling application Stage Hand, how the user interface has evolved, and the lessons he has learned from that experience. Benjamin Jackson then introduces two open source libraries: cocos2d, for 2D gaming; and Chipmunk, for rigid body physics (think “collisions”). He describes the development of Arcade Hockey, an air hockey game, and explains some of the code used for this.

Neil Mix of Pandora Radio reveals the science behind processing streaming audio. How do you debug what you can't see? Neil guides you through the toughest challenges, sharing his experience of what works and what to watch out for when working with audio. Finally, Steven Peterson demonstrates a comprehensive integration of iPhone technologies. He weaves Core Location, networking, XML, XPath, and SQLite into a solid and very useful application.

Software development can be hard work. Introductory books lay the foundation, but it can be challenging to understand where to go next. This book shows some of the pieces that can be brought together to make complete, cool applications.

Who is this book for?

All iPhone application developers with any level of experience or coming from any development platform

Summary of Contents

1. Wolfgang Ante - Designing a Simple, Frenzic-Style Puzzle Game
2. Mike Ash - Mike Ash’s Deep Dive Into Peer-to-Peer Networking
3. Gary Bennett - Doing Several Things at Once: Performance Enhancements with Threading
4. Matthew “Canis” Rosenfeld - All Fingers and Thumbs: Multitouch Interface Design and Implementation
5. Benjamin Jackson - Physics, Sprites, and Animation with the cocos2d-iPhone Framework
6. Neil Mix - Serious Streaming Audio the Pandora Radio Way
7. Steven Peterson - Going the Routesy Way with Core Location, XML, and SQLite

iPhone和iPod touch為所有軟體開發者提供了一個公平競爭的平台 - 獨立開發者與跨國軟體發行商一樣可以接觸到消費者。這真是太棒了！然而，為了使您的應用程式脫穎而出，它必須具有獨特之處。您必須學習技巧，將您的應用程式從App Store的填充物變成下載排行榜的暢銷作品。

這本書由多年經驗的開發者共同編寫。花些時間理解他們的程式碼以及他們採取的方法。您會發現這本書的文字、插圖、程式碼和示範應用程式無與倫比。無論您正在開發什麼類型的應用程式，您都會在這本書中找到一些有助於使您的應用程式更加出色的東西。

本書以《Frenzic》益智遊戲的開發者Wolfgang Ante開場，展示了計時器、動畫和智能如何用於使遊戲玩法更具吸引力。接著，Rogue Amoeba的Mike Ash解釋了如何使用UDP設計網絡協議，並展示了它在點對點應用程式中的應用 - 這通常是一個不容易理解的主題，但在這裡以對普通人有意義的方式解釋。Gary Bennett接著介紹了重要的多線程任務。多線程可以在後台處理其他任務的同時保持用戶界面的響應性。Gary演示了如何做到這一點，並強調了需要避免的陷阱。

接下來，Canis Lupus（又名Matthew Rosenfeld）描述了控制Keynote的應用程式Stage Hand的開發過程，介紹了用戶界面的演進以及他從中獲得的經驗教訓。然後，Benjamin Jackson介紹了兩個開源庫：cocos2d，用於2D遊戲開發；以及Chipmunk，用於剛體物理（即“碰撞”）。他描述了一個空氣曲棍球遊戲Arcade Hockey的開發過程，並解釋了其中使用的一些程式碼。

Pandora Radio的Neil Mix揭示了處理流媒體音頻的科學原理。當您無法看到時，如何進行調試？Neil將引導您克服最困難的挑戰，分享他在處理音頻時的經驗，以及需要注意的事項。最後，Steven Peterson展示了iPhone技術的全面整合。他將Core Location、網絡、XML、XPath和SQLite結合在一個堅實且非常有用的應用程式中。

軟體開發可能是一項艱苦的工作。入門書籍奠定了基礎，但理解接下來該往哪裡走可能是一個挑戰。本書展示了一些可以結合在一起製作完整且出色的應用程式的要素。

這本書適合所有iPhone應用程式開發者，無論他們的經驗水平如何或來自哪個開發平台。

內容摘要：
1. Wolfgang Ante - 設計一個簡單的Frenzic風格益智遊戲
2. Mike Ash - Mike Ash深入研究點對點網絡
3. Gary Bennett - 同時執行多個任務：使用多線程進行性能增強
4. Matthew “Canis” Rosenfeld - 十指全動：多點觸控界面設計和實現
5. Benjamin Jackson - 使用cocos2d-iPhone框架進行物理、精靈和動畫
6. Neil Mix - Pandora Radio的嚴肅流媒體音頻處理方式
7. Steven Peterson - 使用Core Location、XML和SQLite的Routesy方式