Are you planning to write an application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad? Did you know that the core software of all of these devices is iOS. Yes, iOS is an operating system which is developed by Apple and currently runs on all above said devices. Apple’s iOS provides more basic user interface than Mac OS X where in each new version of it adds more features.

Before you begin writing application for iOS, you’ll need a few items mentioned below:

• A Mac computer running OS X 10.7 (Lion) or later
• Xcode
• iOS SDK

Let us see in detail what these requirements are:

iOS SDK:

As iOS uses a variant of the same XNU kernel that is found in OS X, the tool chain used for developing on iOS is also based on Xcode. The SDK contents are broken down into the following sets:

• Cocoa Touch
• Media
• Core Services
• Mac OS X Kernel

Along with the Xcode tool chain, the SDK contains the iPhone Simulator, a program used to simulate the look and feel of the iPhone on the developer's desktop. Originally called the Aspen Simulator, it was renamed with the Beta 2 release of the SDK.

You’ll also need to sign up to become a registered iOS developer. Apple requires thisstep before you’re allowed to download the iOS SDK. To sign up as a developer, just navigate tohttp://developer.apple.com/ios/Thatwill bring you to a page similar to the one shown in the following figure

Figure 1. Apple’s iOS Dev Center web site

• First, click the button labeled Log in. You’ll be prompted for your Apple ID. If you don’t have an Apple ID, click the Create Apple ID button, create one, and then log in
• Once you are logged in, you’ll be taken to the main iOS development page. Not only will yousee a link to the SDK download, but you’ll also find links to a wealth of documentation,videos, sample code, and the like—all dedicated to teaching you the finer points of iOS application development

In the next lesson we will demonstrate more aspects......

Next>> Languages used to develop iOS applications

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