Tech Book Nostalgia

The Commodore 64 Programmer’s Reference Guide was probably the first programming book I ever made extensive use of. I ran into a copy at Powell’s Books in Portland the last time I was there. If you ever have a chance to check out their tech book shop, they’ve got some sweet old computers on display, including an Altair, IMSAI, and a PET. It’s a good way to waste a lot of time.

Back when I was in middle and high school, I did a lot of programming on the Mac. That’s back in the System 6 era! Dave Mark’s books, especially Macintosh Pascal Programming Primer and (later) Learn C On The Macintosh still sit on a bookshelf in my family’s house. The spines on my copies are so broken it’s a wonder they haven’t fallen apart.

Browsing the bookshelves at the local Barnes & Noble, I was excited to discover that Dave Mark is still at it. I picked up Beginning iPhone Development based on his name alone. While I’ve already done a fairly extensive amount of iPhone and Cocoa programming, Mark’s book doesn’t disappoint. It’s a solid and easygoing introduction to the platform. It doesn’t hit everything — it’s surprisingly silent on networking — but the topics it does cover leave little to be desired. If you’re thinking about getting in the iPhone game, it’s a good book to pick up.