Learning suggestions for a beginner (Swift, iOS, tvOS, macOS)?

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1

Hello !

As I can use in the General Discussions category only 1 subtopic, I ask here. I bought Swift Apprentice and ask myself, what is the best way to start / continue as beginner to code (somewhere in the future) games and maybe apps for iOS / tvOS / macOS ?

I ask because there are tons of informations out there … but which I choose to get out the best results. As example, if I like to make a game like Candy Crush, is the Swift Apprentice and the tutorial https://www.raywenderlich.com/125311/make-game-like-candy-crush-spritekit-swift-part-1 enough ? Or, is it better to buy as second book the 2D Apple Games by Tutorials ? Same for iOS apps, is Swift Apprentice and this website enough to start ? Or, is the book iOS Apprentice a better way to start ? It is not a question about spent money - it is for me a question, with which way I cover all things I need.

I am aware that there is no macOS book at the moment. Suggestions about graphics, animations and sound are also very welcome.

Thanks for your answers.

2

If budget is a concern, you can go far with the Swift Apprentice and the free tutorials we have on the site.

If budget is not a concern, then I’d recommend the following:

  • If you want to make apps, then read the iOS Apprentice next.
  • If you want to make games (in Swift), then read 2D Apple Games by Tutorials next.

The advantage of the books is they walk you through in a nice step-by-step manner optimized for learning, and are fully up-to-date.

I hope that helps - let me know if you have any other questions!

3

Thanks for your answer.

I thought on these books and the tvOS Apprentice but was not sure whether this books covers everything I need.

As suggestion (which I already reported months ago) to the books, it would be nice to have a single PDF to download if you buy the book on a iPad. Even you need Xcode to develop, there is also Apple´s Playgrounds for iOS to play around. I bought the Swift Apprentice in the train and was a littlebit disappointed to get a ZIP with which Safari on iOS can´t do anything. Yes, I know that there are other app´s to solve that but this was not what I want. Even you have no Xcode, you can use the time to read the book a first time specially if your native language is not English.

Are there some suggestions about starting (self made not bought content) with graphics and sounds ?

4

Thanks for the suggestion on making the PDF-only available for download, I agree that would be a nice feature to have on the site.

Regarding making your own graphics and sounds, 2D iOS Games by Tutorials has a chapter that might help. From there you can get books on drawing, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I’m not much of an artist so can’t give much more help than that heh :]

5

Thanks for your answer.

I bought the 2D iOS Games by Tutorial and continue with that for now.