Introduction to iOS with Swift and Objective-C

Overview

This document is a quick guide to preparing for iOS Development.

Many resources require an Apple Developer Account. Registering for the free account gives you access to the basic resources to start development:

Download Xcode

Once you’ve registered for a free account, you can download Xcode from the iOS Dev Center

Downloading from the Dev Center vs Mac App Store

While you can download Xcode from the Mac App Store, it is limited to the current public release. Developer Accounts can access beta releases of Xcode and iOS, which are available months before the public release. They may also access previous releases, which are valuable for testing very old builds that may no longer compile in the latest Xcode.

Which Version?

Apple announces a new version of Xcode in June, and releases the first beta shortly thereafter. They ship the final release in September.

If it’s June, it can be difficult to learn with an Xcode beta, as you may wrestle with bugs in Xcode itself. If it’s August, it’s safer to use the latest Xcode beta. It’s probably stable, and you’ll avoid learning techniques that may be deprecated in the latest release.

Alternative IDEs

Do not learn iOS Development on an IDE other than Xcode. Xcode is the only IDE Apple has blessed for iOS development. All documentation is written assuming you are using Xcode. It is more difficult to seek help on forums, as your problem may just be your alternative toolchain.

Enroll in the iOS Developer Program

This program costs $99 a year and is only required if you want to distribute your apps in the App Store and have access to beta iOS releases.