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Apple Developer site is one of the most important and useful for learning. Register on it and get access to many articles and docs:
And example: Learning Objective-C: A Primer See also this thread - iPhone development on Windows |
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Consider learning to write web apps using HTML5 on your PC first, and then running these web apps on iOS devices using Safari or web clippings. You can use PHP for any remote web services used by the web app on the device. You will very likely want an iOS device or two to learn 1st hand what makes good iOS app designs. If you want to do iOS native App store apps, the best path is to get a Mac and try learning some Objective C, even if you choose to depend on some 3rd party development environment or language later. You can't code native apps using PHP. |
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If you're really serious about iOS/macOS programming, you might wanna spend a lot of times perusing Apple's documentation. You might wanna use a real Mac computer for this, and spend like $99 (varies between countries) for testing your app in real devices (You can postpone this until you're ready to test/distribute though, because it's only for one year of iOS app developer account) Also, in XCode, there's a documentation reference, where you can add Apple's docset, so you can look at the documentation in XCode and download sample codes without accessing the internet. The documentations are plenty. You might wanna start with learning the Objective-C first, because you need to know the language first. It's different than C. Although similar in some parts. And then you can start move to iOS (cocoa touch) core competencies, that will teach you about the methodology and the basic things you really need to know about iOS applications. After that you might want to move to programming guides, like View Controller's programming Guide, Core data programming guide, Web Services Programming Guide, etc. But, if you really don't care about all the essentials, and just want a quick access using your own web programming skills, you can use Appcelerator Titanium (for example), where it allows you to write codes in javascript/HTML/CSS and even PHP for desktop app and it will interpret your code into iOS native language. But you will also learn its extensive API, and you'll probably end up rewrite it in iOS native language if some weird bugs happened. The good thing about Titanium is you can use the same codes for Android (and someday Blackberry) application. Some said that Titanium is quick to learn but only good for prototyping. |
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I started programing in Xcode with a background in PHP and ActionScript two years ago. What I have accomplished to date is amazing. The thing that helped me the most was sites like this one where you can collaborate with others. The best way to use a site like this is sparingly when your at your wits end, then don't seek direct help but rather better understanding of what your trying to do. I also use Mac Guides and developer support tools. Both the guides and tools change and you can spend a lot of time upgrading before your even finished so use them sparingly as well. Try to spend most of your time learning "Why" not "How". What you will need to proceed quickly is a Mac and an IPod or Ipad. I tried to go the PC development route first and ran into many snags. The set backs are the up front money for the Mac and dev-device, and the time spent in learning a new OS. The Mac's interface feels left handed as apposed to the PC, and I spent a lot of time fighting the OS just to get around and find files etc. I estimate that I spent one year getting oriented to the "Mac OS," it's not about just pointing and clicking you need to know a lot of backend stuff as well. I also spent about a year in Xcode, and example trials. I learn hands on and never picked up a book. Some people do well with books, but i usually find that the authors are more interested in displaying how smart they can sound as apposed to step by step teaching. Google should become your coding partner when you have a question or seek answers, and you should also find a good Repository for code. Hope this helps you save time and money. Maybe you can be up and running in just a year if you don't try the PC route first. |
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