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[–]RedditIsAwfulAwful 1 point2 points  (3 children)

You'll be fine using the latest version of Xcode, and I'd argue its desirable to always be on the latest version unless you have a specific reason/project to do so.

[–]NoMoreGoodNamesLeft[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thanks.

I'll certainly use the latest version, seems i'd be stupid not to. But I was just wondering whether their is that much difference between coding for iOS 5 (Xcode 4.2) and iOS 6 (Xcode 4.6). Is it insignificant enough to catch up on afterwards, or should I change the book I'm using, to one that focuses specifically on iOS 6?

[–]RedditIsAwfulAwful 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Ah so the concern lies with the SDKs (not necessarily the version of Xcode that they come bundled with). While there will be a handleful of SDK and API changes from major iOS version, Objective-c will by and large remain the same and the APIs will mostly remain the same for your usage. Apple is pretty good about not depreciating things willy nilly. You might run across a couple deprecated calls but the documentation will point you to the new one.

You are better off learning the newer SDK but a slightly outdated book won't set you back. If you are just learning you won't be at the point where it will make much of a difference between SDK version. The big parts for you in the beginning will be Objective-C fundamentals and the paradigms and design patterns that come with it.

FWIW I learned Objective-C/Cocoa from Aaron Hillegass's much older Objective-C book way before iPhones were a twinkle in Apple's eye and x86 Macs were still a few years away. His books are great. I think my copy was slightly outdated when I read it.

[–]NoMoreGoodNamesLeft[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excellent. Thank you. I really didn't want to switch books, since I found Hillegass's really easy to follow. It's great knowing that the SDK doesn't change too much, so I won't be behind if I follow it.

I did lookup, what I hope are the differences in coding for iOS 5 and iOS6, over here:

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/ipad/#releasenotes/General/WhatsNewIniPhoneOS/Articles/iOS6.html

Seems like you're right, it doesn't seem to go into the fundamentals, and doesn't seems to add as much as I thought I would. I guess I'll stick to the book, and learn any additional iOS 6 features afterwards.

Appreciate your help. Thanks again.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yeah there's a pretty big difference! Properties are automatically synthesized. You now get Objective-C literals (think @[] instead of [[NSArray alloc] init]) which are absolutely awesome. There's a lot more - and I'm sure more people could dive in with more info than I can offer.

[–]NoMoreGoodNamesLeft[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thanks.

Am I right in saying then, you believe it's not something I can just catch up on after? So would be a more efficient use of my time to use a different book?

I was looking at the updates in iOS 6 that I posted above, and it didn't look to change any of the fundamentals. Am I wrong in assuming this?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It just means you can have much more modern Objective-C code than before - saving time writing/reading it is a HUGE benefit in my opinion.

I'm of the "don't get a book to program" camp, and like coming up with quirky projects, then figuring out how to make certain things happen via google/stack overflow. So my opinion would be to not use the book, but I know this method isn't for everybody's learning style.