XCode Treasures

by Chris Adamson

Learn the critical tips and techniques to make using Xcode for the iPhone, iPad, or Mac easier, and even fun. Explore the features and functionality of Xcode you may not have heard of. Go under the hood to discover how projects really work, so when they stop working, you'll know how to fix them. Explore the common problems developers face when using Xcode, and find out how to get the most out of your IDE. Dig into Xcode, and you'll discover it's richer and more powerful than you might have thought. Get a huge productivity boost by working with Xcode instead of against it. Instead of hacky code fixes and manual processes, once you know the the why and how of Xcode's process, you'll discover that doing things Xcode's way makes your app development more elegant and less aggravating. Explore the major features of project management, building UIs with storyboards, code editing, compiling apps, fixing bugs and performance problems, unit- and UI testing, and source code management. Go beyond the basics and explore tasks that professionals deal with when they're working on big projects. Create storyboards that many developers can work on at once, even as projects grow to hundreds or thousands of files. Find the tools that make the code editor pleasant to work with, even in long coding sessions. Discover the right way to find and fix bugs when you have lots of code that's not always playing nicely together. Dig into specific and little-discussed features that help developers on Apple's other macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. When you're ready to distribute your app, learn how Apple's code-signing system really works. Find out when to let Xcode handle it automatically, and how to do it manually when needed. Discover how much easier and more fun iOS development is when you know the secrets of the tools. What You This book requires Xcode 9 and a Mac running macOS High Sierra (10.13.2) or later. Additionally, an iOS device is recommended for on-device testing but not required.

250 pages, ebook

Published October 10, 2018

Reviews

[David Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've used Xcode for a while, but I found many new pearls in this book. That said, there were also stretches of the book that don't apply to the programming I do at the moment, which is not the book's fault. These I skimmed. The writing style is rather humorous, certainly far from a tech manual. Overall I think this is a worthwhile read for most people who use Xcode.

[Ivelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find any hidden treasures in this book. It went through Xcode's menus and features explaining them. It is super basic and doesn't go into detail with the more advanced stuff. I expect that most developers with several years of experience in Xcode won't learn much. There were chapters that were unnecessary like Storyboards, & Source Control.

[Stefan Kanev · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pretty decent book.

While it won't help you turn your XCode into a finely-tuned environment, it accomplished three things – (1) showcases a couple of cool things that you might not not about, (2) explains a bunch of things that might take a while to get (projects, frameworks, provisioning profiles, certificates, storyboards, xibs) and (3) shows some random cool stuff.

Apart from a wasted chapter on Source Control Management ((a) who uses XCode for source control and (b) does it really need explaining?), I don't have any qualms with this book – if you're working with XCode, it's worth reading.

[Ravi Sinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does what it sets out to do - explain Xcode features. Nothing seemed to exhibit extraordinary treasure-like properties, but it's a great companion for anyone getting into any serious development for Apple platforms.

[Dennis Nehrenheim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Context & Why I read this book
I am a software engineer with focus on Swift and Apple platforms. Using Xcode is my daily bread. I was hoping to learn some more tips and tricks to master my main IDE.

What is the book about as a whole?
The book takes you through all major parts of working with Xcode, the IDE for developing software on Apple platforms. It tackles basics like project setup, working with storyboard, and editing source code but also explores some more intermediate topics like improving performance, security, and extending Xcode.

The book's structure
The book is divided into 12 chapters and comes with many screenshots and code samples:
1. Projects
2. Storyboards: Appearance
3. Storyboards: Behavior
4. Editing Source Code
5. Building Projects
6. Debugging Code
7. Improving Performance
8. Automated Testing
9. Security
10. Source Control Management
11. Platform Specifics
12. Extending Xcode

One lesson
One thing I learned about was were the advanced breakpoint actions Xcode offers: logging messages, playing sounds, executing debugger commands, and the "expr" LLDB command which lets you change the values of variables at run-time, something that can come in handy once in a while.

Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
(This recommendation is only targeted at developers on Apple platforms) I don't think that you necessarily need to read it (especially if you have 3+ years of experience with Xcode). I learned a couple of new things but in the end, the book was lacking depth. Also, quite naturally for a book like this, newer topics are missing (like working with SwiftUI previews or using the latest Xcode features from the last 2-3 years). Considering that there are so many valuable other books you can read to improve your craft overall this is a 5 out of 10 (⭑⭑⭑) for me.

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Find my other book reviews at: https://www.dennisnehrenheim.com/read