Let's Talk Cocoa

We went a long time without updates to Cocoa programming books, but all of a sudden the incredible popularity of apps on the iPhone platform changed all that. There are a ton of great books on Cocoa and Objective-C that have hit the shelves recently. Here are some of the best.

Getting started

• Programming in Objective-C 2.0
  Objective-C is the language you need to use if you intend to write native apps for iPhone. It’s also the language Cocoa itself is written in, so it’s the preferred language for writing Mac desktop apps.
• Learn Objective–C on the Mac
  From the excellent Learn series, this book gently guides you through the process of learning Objective-C
• Learn C on the Mac
  Since Objective-C is a superset of C, it helps to learn C along the way if you don’t know it already.
• Learn Cocoa on the Mac
  Aspiring Mac developers get some love with this book. iPhone developers will benefit too, since many of the topic covered are included in Cocoa Touch
• Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK
  If you plan to write iPhone apps, there are a few books you simply need. This is one of them.

Intermediate Cocoa Topics

• Core Data
  Marcus Zarra shows you the framework for persisting data on the Mac or iPhone
• Core Animation
  Marcus Zarra on the magic behind every “gee whiz” feature you see on the iPhone (and now Mac) UI
• Core Animation
  Bill Dudney also has an excellent book on Core Animation

iPhone/iPad

• iPhone Developer’s Cookbook
  Remember I said there were some books you simply need? This is another.
• More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3
  And this one. No iPhone developer bookshelf should be without it.

Mac

• Beginning Mac Programming
  You can rarely go wrong with a book from Pragmatic Press
• Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X
  Learn Mac development from the Big Nerd himself, Aaron Hillegass

Advanced Topics

• Cocoa Programming Developer’s Handbook
  A deep tour through all Cocoa has to offer. Prepare to learn a lot.
• Cocoa Design Patterns
  28 design patterns that empower Cocoa, and should be used in your code.

New books pop up seemingly every day. As we read them, if they really shine, we’ll put them here.

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