Swift in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself

In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, Sams Teach Yourself Swift in 24 Hours, Second Edition, will teach you how to build next-generation OS X and iOS apps with Apple’s Swift 2 programming language. This book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach helps you quickly master Swift 2’s core concepts, structure, and syntax and use Swift to write safe, powerful, modern code. In just a few hours you’ll be applying features such as extensions, closures, protocols, and generics. Every lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success.

Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Swift 2 programming tasks.
Practical, hands-on examples show you how to apply what you learn.
Quizzes and exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills.
Notes and tips point out shortcuts and solutions.

Learn how to...

• Get started with Swift 2.0’s Xcode 7 development environment
• Master Swift’s fundamental data types
• Use operators to change, assign, combine, check, or verify values
• Retain data and preferences in memory with arrays, sets, and dictionaries
• Control program flow, modify execution paths, and iterate code
• Perform complex actions concisely with Swift 2.0’s improved functions
• Work with higher-order functions and closures
• Harness the power of structs, enums, classes, and class inheritance
• Take advantage of Swift’s advanced memory allocation and references
• Use protocols to define behavior and explore Protocol-Oriented Programming
• Add type functionality with extensions
• Smoothly handle errors
• Leverage the power of generics to create flexible and reusable code
• Interoperate with Objective-C code
• Get started with Functional Programming approaches and thinking functionally

BJ Miller is an iOS developer for DXY Solutions, a mobile, web, and design consultancy in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. BJ earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Baldwin-Wallace College (now called Baldwin-Wallace University) in Berea, Ohio, the town where he grew up. His latest career path encompassed large-scale enterprise network administration, SQL database administration, and Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft Project Server administration and integration as a contractor for the United States Department of Defense, with all the Microsoft certifications that come along with that. Before that, he spent several years in LAN engineering, designing and implementing network infrastructure, as a Cisco Certified Network Associate.

BJ began iOS development in 2009 after not having programmed for a few years, and he developed a passion for the platform and the Objective-C language. Now, his love has expanded to include Swift, and there is still yet room in his heart for more. In 2013, he released his first app into the iOS App Store, called MyPrayerMap, as a simple tool for managing prayer requests.

When he is not writing in Objective-C or Swift for either work or this book, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two boys, reading, listening to music or podcasts, and playing The Legend of Zelda (any game on any system will do). He also co-organizes the Cleveland CocoaHeads Meetup with Daniel Steinberg, http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland- CocoaHeads/, and organizes a submeetup of that group called Paired Programming Fun, which is a casual meetup where the focus is on Test-Driven Development (TDD) in Swift in paired-programming style. BJ often presents iOS-related topics at CocoaHeads and also speaks at other conferences such as MacTech, CocoaConf (Columbus, Ohio), and CodeMash v2.0.1.5. He also blogs from time to time at http://bjmiller.me and is on Twitter as @bjmillerltd.

Hour 1: Getting Started with Xcode 6
Hour 2: Learning Swift's Basic Data Types
Hour 3: Working with Arrays and Dictionaries
Hour 4: Controlling Program Flow with Conditionals and Loops
Hour 5: Using Functions and Closures
Hour 6: Learning Classes, Structs, and Enums
Hour 7: Adding Properties and Methods
Hour 8: Implementing Protocols and Extensions
Hour 9: Introducing Cocoa Touch
Hour 10: Writing your First iOS 8 App
Hour 11: Using Different Interface Elements
Hour 12: Discovering Table Views
Hour 13: Understanding View Navigation and Multiple View Controllers
Hour 14: Implementing Unified Storyboards for Universal Apps
Hour 15: Accessing Device Location Information
Hour 16: Introducing App Extensions
Hour 17: Using Touch ID Authentication
Hour 18: Implementing the Photos Framework and Camera Controls
Hour 19: Introducing the Health Kit Framework
Hour 20: Home Automation with Home Kit
Hour 21: Continuing Activities with HandOff
Hour 22: Opening Documents with Document Picker
Hour 23: Syncing with Cloud Kit
Hour 24: Debugging Apps with Xcode 6