iOS is one of the leading and arguably the most advanced mobile platform in the world. Apple has invested a lot in it and continues to reap benefits out of it.
When Apple first opened the gates for the developers, it just took off. And after these many years, Apple can certainly boast of a bulging and ever accruing app store.
So how does one get started to be part of this Apple juggernaut ?
Well, if you have decided to get on with iOS development for iPhone/iPod/iPad apps, you should be ready to spend some cash just to write a cool Hello World app ! as most of the things from Apple are proprietary and there are no freebies.
So here is what all you need:
1. Mac OS and intel based PC : Many would say that there are ways to develop iOS apps on windows machine but I won't suggest you to do that because the whole process is really painstaking and there are chances that you might not achieve what you had thought of at the outset.
The development IDE and all the softwares needed for the development and the testing require an intel based mac machine and there is no running away from this fact. So rather than writing code on some windows machine using a sdk like DragonFly and then uploading the code to get the build, its better to get your hands on an intel based Mac machine. You can buy a macbook or a mac computer depending on your budget and plans. The Mac Mini starts from $699.
If budget is really a constraint, you can opt for refurbished machines available on the mac store or find a second hand machine from eBay. This can certainly bring down the cost.
2. Apple iOS Developer Program : To get access to the tools and also to code, test and deploy your apps to the app store you would need to register for Apple's iOS developer program which costs you $99 a year. Once you are a registered with the program, you can download the latest iOS sdk required to develop iOS apps for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The IDE provided by Apple is Xcode. One can download the sdk with Xcode only so you should be ready to download around 5 GB of data before even getting started.
The documentation from Apple is good to start with and there are plethora of tutorials available on the web.
3. iOS device : Although, Xcode comes with all the simulators, you would need to test the app on real devices before submitting it to the app store. The device needed depends on the type of the application being developed and thus you would need to have access to an iPhone or an iPod Touch or an iPad or all three of them.
The developer program allows you to perform ad hoc testing on selected devices ( Max 100) to understand how the application performs in a real environment.
Once you are done with your testing and satisfied with the results, you can submit the app to the app store for approval and if everything goes right, your app would be up and running on the Apple app store.
That's it. I hope this throws some light on getting started with iOS development.
Please do leave a comment if you see a wrong piece of information or if you feel that I have missed out on something crucial.
Happy coding !
2 comments:
If i intend to use mac installed on Virtual Box, will it work?
If u have mac os then u r good to go but even then it would require some effort to get everything going and I haven't tried it personally so I can't really tell you about the possible problems that may arise.....Please check out this for further insight.
Post a Comment