New developer, no code insight or intellisense?

[JohnnyBravo]

Hi all,
Im very new to iOS development, Ive bought the developer licence and am cracking on with my first app.

However Im having an issue following the syntax, to me it doesn't feel intuitive to OO development. So that gets me thinking that Im missing something vital.

in C# properties and methods are available with the following syntax;

[object].[property on method];

So something like;

myObject.Name = "JohnnyBravo";
myObject.SetName("JohnnyBravo again!");

This syntax lends itself to code insight, a feature of the Visual Studio IDE where when I put the full stop I get the full list of properties and methods that I can access in that object. I dont see a simple and easy way of listing properties and methods when I want to access objects in iOS, so Im finding my first steps a little frustrating.

Example, I found myself wasting time trying to figure out how to get the month value out of an NSDate object, only to eventually find through google that you cant. With code insight or similar showing me what properties are available on the object I would have seen right away that no such property exists (which is a little odd).

Im making progress but its slow, I keep leaning back to 'well its easy in C# and Visual Studio' and so, Im here asking for guidance.

How do I maximise the use of the IDE? Can the IDE list for me all the methods and properties an object supports?

Sorry for the long post, its my first on this forum. Hopefully the first of many as I learn more and more.

My thanks
JohnnyBravo

[menodev]

type "[aString " and then press escape or any other key/combination that is defined as code completion. as of xcode 4 this list comes also without pressing the key if you want so.

[JohnnyBravo]

My thanks menodev, simple things like this make development so much easier.

[smasher]

Alos, holding down one of the control keys (control? alt? I have my keyboard remapped) will jump you to an object, property, or class's definition in your project. It's the same as right-click "jump to definition." Another opens up the documentation for that class, just like right-click "search in documentation."

[musicwind95]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Hi all,
Im very new to iOS development, Ive bought the developer licence and am cracking on with my first app.

Great!

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

However Im having an issue following the syntax, to me it doesn't feel intuitive to OO development. So that gets me thinking that Im missing something vital.

in C# properties and methods are available with the following syntax;

[object].[property on method];

So something like;

myObject.Name = "JohnnyBravo";
myObject.SetName("JohnnyBravo again!");

Woops...in Objective-C, you would not call myObject.SetName. In Obj-C, dot-syntax does not invoke a(ny ordinary method)—it invokes the proper accessor as necessary.

If you write
NSString *name = myObject.name;
(notice the capitalization of the property, BTW...it's a Cocoa convention...I know C# favors capitalizing the first "word," but Obj-C doesn't)
that invokes the getter method. Notice the property on the right side of the equals.

If you write
myObject.name = newName;
that invokes the setter. Notice the property on the left side of the equals.

Anyway,

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

This syntax lends itself to code insight, a feature of the Visual Studio IDE where when I put the full stop I get the full list of properties and methods that I can access in that object. I dont see a simple and easy way of listing properties and methods when I want to access objects in iOS, so Im finding my first steps a little frustrating.

In Xcode 3, pressing Escape will display the list of what you can use. This is sometimes buggy (as in, it will tell you that no completions are available), but it doesn't happen too often.

In Xcode 4, this should show up automatically. But Xcode 4 is under NDA...we can't talk about it until it's officially released.

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Example, I found myself wasting time trying to figure out how to get the month value out of an NSDate object, only to eventually find through google that you cant. With code insight or similar showing me what properties are available on the object I would have seen right away that no such property exists (which is a little odd).

I've never thought about it that way...from the beginning, I've just jumped to the documentation when I'm not sure of a class. The documentation is actually really clear and helpful (not to mention accessible...⌘⇧? if I remember)...so make the most of it.

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Im making progress but its slow, I keep leaning back to 'well its easy in C# and Visual Studio' and so, Im here asking for guidance.

How do I maximise the use of the IDE? Can the IDE list for me all the methods and properties an object supports?

Sorry for the long post, its my first on this forum. Hopefully the first of many as I learn more and more.

My thanks
JohnnyBravo

Good luck on your programming journey!

[musicwind95]

Originally Posted by smasher

Alos, holding down one of the control keys (control? alt? I have my keyboard remapped) will jump you to an object, property, or class's definition in your project. It's the same as right-click "jump to definition." Another opens up the documentation for that class, just like right-click "search in documentation."

I believe it's ⌥-DoubleClick (Option-DoubleClick).