Book Progress Report
Well I think I'm close to getting the first chapter done.
Its always tough to get the first chapter done. There is so much more than the outline to the chapter that is being written in that first chapter...
The hardest part for me is always finding the voice, or maybe the real challenge is not finding the voice but getting it right. As I have posted many times in the past (mostly while writing one my of my java related books, some of my thoughts on that are here) everyone learns differently. When I write a book I want to cast as wide a net as possible so that I can teach as many folks as possible. But I also want the book to be focused enough to make sense to someone. So getting that voice right can be a real challenge.
When writing a blog its so much easier because each entry can be focused on one learning type, other learning types will be hit in another entry after all.
With the help of my editor Daniel Steinberg I think I've finally found the voice of the book. Basically I'm aiming at folks coming from other languages. Cause most of the folks coming to the mac seem to be coming from somewhere else. What that means is I don't have to spend a lot of time talking about what a for loop is and that kind of stuff but instead I can focus on in Java you do 'foo' in ObjC you can do something similar but you do it like 'bar'. I think this will end up with a book that is readable for folks new to ObjC even if its their first language.
Who wants to read a 3 page description of the for loop anyway ;)
Well with all that said I'd love to get your thoughts and commentary on what makes a great book.
There's definitely a precedent for this type of approach. The Rails world has a few books that I know of that take this approach. One of them is Rails for Java Developers by the Agile guys.
Posted by Bryan Noll on September 07, 2007 at 10:28 AM MDT #
I think this approach is good as I am from a very strong C++ background and the obj-C syntax was really throwing me having never seen it before. I know how to write code, I just can't get the compiler to believe me :)
I think perhaps saying "here is how it was done in C++ and Java", and "here how it is done in obj-C". Also including language specific gotchas would be good. For example, coming from something else to C++, you want to know not to delete a malloc or free a new. This is perhaps a weak example, but hopefully the idea gets across. Perhaps even an exhaustive chart format that covered as many comparisons as possible would be good, even for loops, etc.
I have been looking for a book like this for a while and haven't found anything satisfactory. I commend you on your effort.
Posted by 52Teleman on January 16, 2008 at 01:46 PM MST #
Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
Posted by Bill Dudney on January 16, 2008 at 02:01 PM MST #
A chapter on design patterns would be advantageous. Every other language got a dedicated book on design patterns.
Posted by kiran aghor on June 14, 2008 at 08:12 AM MDT #