Tools for iPhone Development

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   Tools for iPhone Development
For any development we need a good code editing environment, debugging tools, performance tools and other tools like refactoring tool, source code management tool. This all are bundled in a single integrated environment called Xcode. Its simple to use with advanced facilities.
Xcode is a matured development environment and is used in Mac OS development for more than 2 decades. The Xcode for iPhone comes with templates which helps to start iPhone application development in a very limited time.
Four stages of iPhone development
1. iPhone Management
Any iPhone that we need to use for development must be specially provisioned as a development device. This is done by the Xcode organiser. Organiser also helps to manage the software and firmware loaded in the device. A new version of iPhone OS can be installed easily to a device with the help of iPhone organiser. It can also be used to view logging information, crash logs of an application from iPhone console. Organizer also allows to take screen shots of applications on your iPhone. So we can conclude that iPhone Organizer is  basically a device management tool.
2. Coding
The IDE provides a source code editor with easy access to your project. It shows all structure of the project and easy access to build setting, resource file etc. It also provide easy access to all the main actions like build. 
Xcode supports snapshots, which captures the complete state of the project and will keep track of all the changes. This can be used to find difference between a previous version of file with current version. Snapshots will be taken when major changes like refactoring is done. It also SCM (Source code management) support. It can be bind to CVS, subversion or perforce. Xcode allows to browse, checkout your repository. This helps you to stay in Xcode for all the version control needs. 
Xcode has a research assistant which helps as to view documentation of Api's. Xcode comes with built in documentation which can be viewed from help menu. Xcode keeps this documentation uptodate with automatic update.
Interface builder in Xcode is a powerfull tool for graphical designing of interfaces.
3. Building and Debugging
Xcode allows to set break points. This heps in instant debugging of iPhone application. It also have a debugging option called datatips, which is similiar to watch in VB. It allow as to see values/details of any variable or object in scope. This helps in a better debugging of applications.
iPhone simulator is used to run your application on desktop, on an environment equavalent to the real device. Building the application for iPhone and installing it on a device is a simple task with Xcode. You can even run the application on real device and debug it, this is called on device debugging which is a great functionality of Xcode. This will help the developers to debug their application on a real device. Datatips, break points and debug console all are available with on device debugging which makes our job much easier.
4. Analysing iPhone Applications
Performance is a major aspect when developing mobile applications on any devices. Unoptimized code means more processor power and draining on battery of the devices. Xcode Tool called instruments helps in performance analysis. This instruments help to analyse memory usage, network activity, object allocation, CPU usage, memory leak, disk usage and so on. Some instruments used in iPhone development are Leaks, Sampler, Disk Monitor, Network activity, Object Alloc, Activity Monitor, Core Animation and OpenGL ES.

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Jijo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 31 Dec 05 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 495	Quote Reply Topic: Tools for iPhone Development Posted: 12 Jan 09 at 11:57pm
	Tools for iPhone Development For any development we need a good code editing environment, debugging tools, performance tools and other tools like refactoring tool, source code management tool. This all are bundled in a single integrated environment called Xcode. Its simple to use with advanced facilities. Xcode is a matured development environment and is used in Mac OS development for more than 2 decades. The Xcode for iPhone comes with templates which helps to start iPhone application development in a very limited time. Four stages of iPhone development 1. iPhone Management Any iPhone that we need to use for development must be specially provisioned as a development device. This is done by the Xcode organiser. Organiser also helps to manage the software and firmware loaded in the device. A new version of iPhone OS can be installed easily to a device with the help of iPhone organiser. It can also be used to view logging information, crash logs of an application from iPhone console. Organizer also allows to take screen shots of applications on your iPhone. So we can conclude that iPhone Organizer is basically a device management tool. 2. Coding The IDE provides a source code editor with easy access to your project. It shows all structure of the project and easy access to build setting, resource file etc. It also provide easy access to all the main actions like build. Xcode supports snapshots, which captures the complete state of the project and will keep track of all the changes. This can be used to find difference between a previous version of file with current version. Snapshots will be taken when major changes like refactoring is done. It also SCM (Source code management) support. It can be bind to CVS, subversion or perforce. Xcode allows to browse, checkout your repository. This helps you to stay in Xcode for all the version control needs. Xcode has a research assistant which helps as to view documentation of Api's. Xcode comes with built in documentation which can be viewed from help menu. Xcode keeps this documentation uptodate with automatic update. Interface builder in Xcode is a powerfull tool for graphical designing of interfaces. 3. Building and Debugging Xcode allows to set break points. This heps in instant debugging of iPhone application. It also have a debugging option called datatips, which is similiar to watch in VB. It allow as to see values/details of any variable or object in scope. This helps in a better debugging of applications. iPhone simulator is used to run your application on desktop, on an environment equavalent to the real device. Building the application for iPhone and installing it on a device is a simple task with Xcode. You can even run the application on real device and debug it, this is called on device debugging which is a great functionality of Xcode. This will help the developers to debug their application on a real device. Datatips, break points and debug console all are available with on device debugging which makes our job much easier. 4. Analysing iPhone Applications Performance is a major aspect when developing mobile applications on any devices. Unoptimized code means more processor power and draining on battery of the devices. Xcode Tool called instruments helps in performance analysis. This instruments help to analyse memory usage, network activity, object allocation, CPU usage, memory leak, disk usage and so on. Some instruments used in iPhone development are Leaks, Sampler, Disk Monitor, Network activity, Object Alloc, Activity Monitor, Core Animation and OpenGL ES.
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