Initial iPhone Development Experience from a PC Java guy

At my new job I get to do some iPhone development. Not new development but some enhancements to an existing application. So far it has been a real uphill battle.

First all the code was not checked in to SVN. That meant I could not compile things after the initial check out. Once I figured out you can click on a red (ie bad) file and do Get Info to see where it thought it should come from I was able to figure the missing images. Luckily they were checked in to the build directory - not that the build directory should be in SVN but it was. The other files are part of TouchXML. I figured that out using Get Info and was able to locate the files on the web. Then all the frameworks links had to be updated as it was originally done with the 3.1 SDK but I have 3.2 and 4.0 installed on the Mac Mini I am working on so I had to point to newer versions.

First I copied the TouchXML files into the ExtraLibs directory as was suggested on the web but figured that was not really optimal for others to use and get from SVN so I moved them under the project. If we do more than one iPhone app that needs to share them we will move them into a shared project but there are no plans to do that at this time.

Next up was figuring out the xCode IDE. It does not appear to be as full featured as Eclipse or IntelliJ. All the basics are there but it seems to be missing some of the advanced things I am used to like multiple open files in tabs and hot key support for various actions. The keyboard actually drives me bonkers. I have a regular PC keyboard hooked up so at least I have a full set of keys and don't have to press extra FN to get to things I use on a regular basis. Pressing HOME - which I expect to go to the start of the line - takes me to the start of the file. I know, I just need to learn Mac keys but old habits are hard to break. I also have to press the Windows Key a lot to do things. Getting the hang of that.

I was able to get the program running in the debugger once I got all the libraries / frameworks linked properly to the project. It would run but accepted no mouse or keyboard input. I finally figured out I was running the emulator in iPad mode. Switching to iPhone mode and it worked. I thought iPad was just a big iPhone, sure app would maybe look ugly but should run. This is not the case. Don't have time to figure that out right now. It is my understanding the last build for the original developer works fine on the iPad. The IDE keeps switching back to iPad mode though which is really annoying. When I start it up to a rectangular emulator I know it is wrong, shut it down, change the target and start it up again.


Once you are familiar with the Android on screen keyboard the iTouch one seems really limited. All keys show as uppercase on the keyboard, the only way to know you are in uppercase is to see glow around the Shift Arrow. Keys only do one thing so you have to switch to symbol mode to get numbers and another mode to get some symbols. On the Android you can just hold down on a key and get to the associated symbol. Plus I love Swype now that I have started to use it. Finally the keyboard on the iTouch totally covers up where I am typing so I can't even see what I am entering and there is no Next button so I have to type then press ENTER then press on the next entry field and type. Data entry, which I have to do for user name and password really stinks. I have an iTouch at home and have used it a lot in the past. After using my Android phone I am much happier with it for data entry. Personal choice.

I finally got it to log in but now it crashes processing some XML data from my HTTP request. The data is coming back in GZIP format, because that is how I asked for it, but I don't think it is getting converted to plain text. I am in the bowels of code trying to figure that out. Maybe the TouchXML handles it or maybe some other code. I could be I got a newer version of TouchXML. The original author is not at the company and no one else has worked with this code. I don't know Objective C and have not worked on the Mac much so I am pretty handicapped at this point. It is a challenge.

For me the whole Android configuration was much easier and since I already know Java I could get up and running pretty quickly. I also knew Eclipse and the PC keyboard allowing me to start typing and experimenting right away. I started on a clean app so I could learn at an easier pace. Finally I did not get tossed a 3rd party library right at the start which meant I could write tiny bits of code and to see what happens without the worry of multiple frameworks in my way. And I comment my code, none of the iPhone source for this app is commented and it is not using iPhone standards for naming conventions making it extra fun.

The app is working on the iTouch. It is the code from the original author. I don't know if my build will run on the iTouch and it is just the emulator that is screwy. I can't put my code on the iTouch as I don't have the signing certificate set up yet. This was a fresh install of the development environment. It is nice the Android does not care about signing for you to run and debug on your device. Maybe the iTouch does not either, just seemed to be annoyed without that set up during my initial attempts. I need to get that working to see if I have to run that way for things to work but I also hate to kill the one working instance I have of the application.


Interface Builder (IB) is also another new area. Since the iPad version was not working I thought maybe some of the event connections got broken and I decide to hook them back up. They were not broken but I did learn a bit about IB while trying to figure that out. I also saw some on the net needed to remove / re-add connections to make things work so I went through that whole experiment. Threw me off when hitting the (+) button did nothing. It is a dragging starting point and not so much a button. You drag over to your classes and it will pop up things you can connect to. All makes sense once you know what to do.

I will say I was a bit surprised at all the information I could find on the Web. I was under the impression that Apple was keeping a lot of information under lock and key. The whole programming on the iPhone was supposed to be shrouded in mystery. I did not find that to be the case. Pretty much anything I did a search on via Google popped up numerous results with quick answers. My misconception probably came from a few years back when a lot of the SDK talk was NDA making it hard to publish much without raising the ire of Apple.

SVN support in xCode seems workable but again does not work as it does in a lot of other PC based IDEs. I was finally able to check in code - mainly the missing files - but it took some doing. I think part of the issue was the build directory files being checked in which annoyed SVN on both the PC and the Mac side of things. There were temp files with ~ in them which SVN does not care for in the least. I cleaned it up using TortoiseSVN on the PC then the PC and Mac both worked. There just are so many more free tools on the PC to get things done in this area and again I have used them in the past. It was easy for me to quickly give up on the Mac, do it on PC and move back to Mac to move forward on the app again.

Am I saying the Android development environment is totally superior to the iPhone or the PC is better than the Mac? No, I was more familiar with everything about the Android environment - IDE, Windows and Java so it was easier for me. Not being a Mac person I am learning a whole new way of looking at things. I am not saying right or wrong, just different and difficult at this stage. I have learned enough programming languages and frameworks in the past that I figure I can get up to speed in a reasonable amount of time. I will learn the keyboard, various short cuts and all the cool stuff you can do with Interface Builder, xCode, Objective C and the iPhone SDK. Right now I am in the newbie struggle mode but I will enjoy the challenge and hope to find many things on the Mac that I miss on the PC.

Maybe I should port my Android game to the iTouch which would give me a balanced picture of development on both sides. I will have to wait until we give the Mac Mini to QA at work and I start using a Macbook for my iTouch development so I can do that conversion at home on my own time. Of course I still have some performance and other tweaks I want to do to my Android version and I would like to finish them up first but starting a new job has meant I am mentally burnt out by the time I get home so final touch up to a game is really not high on my list. Making money from a game is so I should push myself...