Reddit reviews Programming in Objective-c: Updated for IOS 5 and Automatic Reference Counting (Arc) (Developer's Library)

One thing to keep in mind is that iOS (and Mac OS) apps are written in Objective-C. Learning ANSI C is fine, but you'll learn most of it while learning C++ anyways.

If you have programmed before, my suggestion is to grab this book. It's a great resource and gets you started with objects right away, which is a good thing.

You can definitely learn, but don't think it'll be quick and painless. If you're a book guy This book will definitely get you going. However, I'll say it, starting programming in obj-c is a bitch. Syntactically it can be extremely overwhelming ( I tried to learn obj-c first ). If it becomes too much, take a step back and try good old C, or a much prettier language like Java, Python, or Lua which will help you understand all the concepts of programming before jumping into app development which can be extremely complex.

After being scared off by obj-c I officially started down my programming path by going through This book which was an absolute pleasure to read and a great "hold your hand" guide to basic programming. The great thing about this is that you'll be learning C concepts which all carry over to obj-C and you'll be getting very familiar with Xcode and the debugger which, again, carry right over into obj-C and app development.

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-4th-Developers-Library/dp/0321811909

I've been learning ObjC on own for a bit now. I took a two-pron approach. I am reading this book which covers ObjC basics and I am watching the Fall 2012 Stanford iOS courses on iTunes U. It's really got me going thus far. It also breaks the monotony of just reading a book, it feels like you are really in the class room.

Objective-C is a superset of C and so has a C base, although the syntax is different (mostly).
There are a few frameworks in Apple's library which are written in C but you may not need those.

I would recommend you use a game engine to write your game - particularly Cocos-2d, as it makes development quicker and easier.
As a previous poster has mentioned, Ray's website is very good at learning IOS programming and it also has good sections on Cocos-2d.

As for books, I can recommend: (I'm in the UK so I'll use amazon uk links).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Cocos2D-Hands--Building-Addison-Wesley/dp/0321735625/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367517122&sr=8-1&keywords=cocos2d (Ray's own book)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-cocos2d-Game-Development-iOS/dp/143024416X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367517122&sr=8-2&keywords=cocos2d

Objective-c
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Objective-C-Automatic-Reference-Developers/dp/0321811909/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367517200&sr=1-5&keywords=ios+programming

Plus there are LOADS of good tutorials online.

Buy these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Developers-Library/dp/0321811909/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346361656&sr=8-2&keywords=objective+c

http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Edition-Guides/dp/0321821521/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346361656&sr=8-4&keywords=objective+c

If you have programming experience it should be relatively easy to pick up. Unfortunately C doesn't have memory management ("garbage collection") which you may be used to in other programming languages. understanding this concept was probably the hardest part of learning Objective C.

Rather than a book, I highly recommend watching the Fall 2011 Stanford iOS development course. I had spent a whole summer going through this book and, while the book is decent, it only briefly touches iOS development.

A year later, I'd forgotten most of what I'd learned, and finally had an idea for an app. After spending about two weeks watching the Stanford lectures and doing a few of the course assignments (which are all available to download) I was ready to start in on my app, just going back in to watch a lecture here and there on big topics like Core Data and concurrency and learning the rest as I went from the documentation and Stack Overflow. And now I'm preparing to put out a beta at the end of the month. I highly recommend the course.

EDIT: The course does assume you have a decent amount of programming experience, which I did as a Computer Science student. It may be harder to get through if you haven't programmed in something like Java, C#, etc and don't have a basic understanding of code patterns.

Programming in Objective-C by Stephen Kochan

Invest in Kochan's Programming in Objective-C. One of the best programming books I've ever read.

Then once you have good unserstanding of Objective-C's syntax and data structures, I recommend iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide.

I went from no experience with Objective-C to getting hired as an iPhone programmer in a month and a half reading these books.

After these, when I come across something I don't know how to do, I usually look here first: Ray Wenderlich. Their tutorials are very very current. I go through them just to learn about iOS/Xcode features I didn't even know existed (there are tons!!).

I've tried (sometimes successfully) learning programming languages from free online resources (especially when I can't find good books), but I really think you shouldn't miss out on these. The cost is pretty minimal considering you just bought an Apple computer.

This kind of object oriented programming is pretty different from the web languages you have gone through. I think the first two books should help you get a basic understanding of Model, View, Controller design.

Finally, use a better title when asking for help!

I had done just a little bit of Python (like, a few weeks of tinkering) before I got started with Objective C. I read some of Kochan's book Programming with Objective C whilst also reading some of Learning Cocos2D, but ultimately I just started playing, getting stuck and hitting the interwebs to get unstuck (reading lots, not spamming forums). I'm about 8 months in and I think I'm about 3 months from releasing my first game.

With my limited experience my advice would be to pick a simple project that you're genuinely interested in, chop it up into little problems / tasks, and work through them. If you're totally stuck, you probably need to cut that task up into smaller pieces. Work hard, read a lot, take a break occasionally, write a blog or diary so you can track your own progress, and have fun!

Starting iOS development is one of the best things I've ever done, although I'm not sure the missus would agree!

Programming in Objective-C by Stephan Kochen is an excellent intro/reference with detailed and clear explanation of Objective-C (the language you will be using).

You should also get the Big Nerd Ranch Guide to iOS programming for things specific to the iDevices.

Apple's developer reference/wiki covers everything else and is also pretty detailed. Stanford's iPhone development video lectures are okay, but I can see how they come in handy to someone who is just getting started.

You will need a mac (of course) and Xcode, and if you haven't used that before, you will need to get comfortable with it. You will need Xcode for many of it's features but if you are not a fan of the IDE and wish to use an editor for simpler things, many support Obj-C syntax highlighting.

I've seen the following recommended, I've not read them myself yet, so can't comment on how good they are or not:

Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (Big Nerd Ranch Guides)


Programming in Objective-C (4th Edition) (Developer's Library)