Sometimes Plans Don't Always Work Out

Yesterday I said I planned on finishing the chapter on storyboards. I was wrong. I plan on finishing it tomorrow.

Storyboards II

I am liking what I am seeing. Yes, the storyboards make the it easier than the nib which makes it easier than the full coding. I guess it is expected that one understands everything first before progressing but I wish I had some exposure to the storyboards first as they save a lot of steps. Today I built a very easy app that took me 15 minutes with storyboards. I am not exactly sure how long it would have taken with the nib and I am definitely not sure how long it would have taken with the full coding.

Tomorrow I plan on finishing the chapter.

Storyboards

After "finishing up" chapter 9 (with its brutal ending), I started the chapter on Storyboards. This seems to give a little more of a friendlier interface to the difficult one I am now so accustomed. Although it seems pretty cool, I am hopeful that iOS 6 does even more to improve this. Speaking of which, I guess I need to upgrade to iOS 6 soon as I am behind a bit.

Chapter 9 done but not done well

I was doing pretty well with chapter 9 until I came to the last controller. Then - boom! This CAN'T be beginner material! It just can't! The last controller, the detail view controller, was simply impossible to comprehend and it only serves to damage my low self esteem about the whole iOS development environment.

I don't know what to say. This iOS stuff just does not stick. I am 2/3 toward my goal and I am simply nowhere. Nowhere! I really, really want to progress but every time I think I am moving ahead, something like chapter 9 throws me for a loop. Then I think, should I stop this book, like I did with the xcode book, and start another book. But no. I am on page 353 and I feel I can restart the book and not recognize anything.

I had so much hope but I am feeling that I am too stupid to do this. Very sobering indeed considering I have over 20 years in the IT field. Maybe I am just a dumb hack like people say Access developers are. Not smart enough to do real development. Sigh. I always envisioned myself as a person with above average intelligence but right now I have never felt so mediocre. At least I am high on the drive. Persistence, perseverance, sweat equity. No, I am not giving up as this could mean another 10+ years of gainful employment, but I am getting to the end of my rope.

Since I basically skipped over the last 5 pages of chapter 9, I can't really say it is completed, but yes, it is done. Whatever the case, I am looking forward to chapter 10 on Storyboards. I have heard a lot about them but this is the first time I am exposed to it.

Has it been this long?

In semi-fairness to me, I have been moving along. Although not at a blistering pace. I am working in chapter 9, the chapter on navigation controllers and table views. It is a real cool chapter and I am making progress. I can see it being useful if and when I get to that day when I develop my first app. This chapter gives 6 examples of what you can do with an app such as making use of the tap, checklist, and what I have just finished, moving, yes moving, rows around.

The thing I have to continue getting used to is how to manage data separately from the table views. It seems like there is a step for the most minute things. This is unlike VBA where you have a lot already built into the control and setting things on the control is right in a visual properties box. I am hoping the storyboarding stuff that I will be tackling in chapter 10 will provide some of this.

I have two more controllers to go in this chapter. I hope I can finish this on New Years day. And by the way, Happy New Year!

Chapter 9 Begins!

I was forewarned that this chapter would build on prior chapters. In other words, I was told it would be difficult. The first few pages started all nice and stuff. Now I am getting into the code behind how the controllers are getting setup. It will take a few passes to understand but I think I will be ok. Again, it is a long chapter, one that may take me awhile to master but I have to make it my business not to spend ridiculous amounts of time on it like I did with chapter 8.

Chapter 8 Done (For Now)

I am so tired at looking at chapter 8 that I am relieved that I have hit chapter 9. However, this may be short-lived as the closing of chapter 8 warned that a lot of chapter 9 is built upon chapter 8. Translation: I had better know everything in chapter 8 or else I will be in trouble in chapter 9. I have been in trouble before. When I became utterly confused in chapter 8, I had to go all the way back to chapter 4-7 to get a handle on everything. Then chapter 8 became less of a chore.

All in all, I liked the chapter, even thought I felt I spent about a month on it. Chapter 9 is probably going to be worse as it longer than chapter 8 (75 pages vs. 60 pages). I wish the authors would have broken it into 2-3 chapters as that kind of gives reinforcement to the reader. Well, whatever.

As usual, I left chapter 8 with a good understanding of what is going on but ask me to do this on my own and I give you a blank stare. This is my main problem and I think it could be a lot easier for me if I spent a lot of quality time on the book. As of the past few months, I have been shying away from doing what I am supposed to and it is only myself who will suffer. I am hopeful chapter 9 will not be as hard as the book is leading on that it will.