iOS (iPhone OS) is Apple’s operating system for the iPhone and iPod Touch and, until 2019, the iPad. It is the second most used mobile operating system in the world after Android. On the other hand, Swift is a modern programming language that Apple introduced in 2014, to develop applications not only on iOS but also on iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

This is the seventh edition of a classic book on iOS programming. The book teaches iOS application development using UIKit, Storyboards, and Interface Builder. For the record, SwiftUI--the new toolkit used to develop graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and an alternative to Storyboards, presented by Apple in 2019--is not mentioned in this book.

The book is based on a Big Nerd Ranch boot camp and follows a learning-by-doing philosophy. The very first chapter covers the development of a complete application so that readers get an idea of iOS development in general. The second chapter is a brief summary of Swift. The rest of the book (22 chapters) develops five complete applications. Each chapter addresses one or more ideas about iOS development through discussion and practice. For more coding practice, most chapters include challenge exercises, cataloged according to their difficulty as gold, silver, or bronze, and one or two sections aptly called “For the More Curious” that explain certain consequences of the recently introduced concepts.

The authors assume that readers meet some prerequisites. These requirements include having programming experience and knowing something about object-oriented programming. Having a basic understanding of Swift is recommended. The book dedicates only one chapter to a brief review of the language; this surely is not enough if Swift is totally unknown. Lastly, it is assumed that the reader is using Xcode 11.4 or later and has access to a Mac personal computer and to a mobile device running iOS 12 or later.

With respect to the previous edition from 2016, the book and the projects have been updated for Xcode 11.4, Swift 5.2, and iOS 13. Some chapters changed their order and others were joined in order to have a clearer and more coherent exposition. New chapters on adaptive interfaces, container view controllers, and custom controls were added.

For a final evaluation: the book is a great introduction to programming on iOS, and highly recommended for anyone who wants to get started in the world of iOS application development.

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