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I am currently in the process of developing my own application for the iTunes App Store. Well, I guess you could say I am finished and waiting with eager anticipation for Apple to accept it. However, while that’s going on over in Cupertino, I though I’d share some of my experiences with the first part of developing an iPhone application: the actual coding and software. Using Apple’s XCode, the iPhone Simulator, and example code from Apple, you can have your own app up and running for free in almost no time at all. Apple has done a really great job at helping developers delve into the iPhone SDK.

The first thing I did when I started (other than create an Apple Developer Connection account) was download and watch the 11 different “Getting Started Videos” that Apple offers to ADC members. These offered a nice foundation for my knowledge with the iPhone platform and how it works, and they were pretty interesting at the same time. However, watching those videos is not even the beginning of creating an app. The next, and largest, part is learning both the language (Cocoa Touch) and software (XCode) that Apple uses for their iPhone. Luckily I had had some previous experience with XCode to get me started.

When you first open XCode, the interface may be a bit daunting. There are all sorts of different types of files and menus throughout the application that can be used for debugging, building, and various other tasks. Fortunately, though, Apple offers a couple of sample applications that are available for download to ADC members that can really help get developers started with the iPhone SDK. These sample projects, which are found in the same area as the videos, cover many of the major aspects of iPhone development, such as how to use the accelerometer, how to create an interface via code (this can also be done via another application called Interface Builder), and voice input.  Even though these tutorials are nice, they only offer a base on which to start your coding. Luckily for me, I have taken quite a few programming classes, so the concepts of writing code come to me naturally, and all I have to do was learn the syntax.

Speaking of the syntax (how the code is written), I found it to be a little more complicated than other languages I have developed in. For example, in Java, objects are automatically released when they are no longer used, whereas in Cocoa they must be allocated and then released via the code. However, thankfully there is the iPhone Dev SDK forums that can quickly become a great resource for developers. With that, the example code, and other resources from Apple’s website, I was able to pretty quickly get a working app up and running on the iPhone simulator that can be downloaded with the iPhone SDK for development.

The first half of the process was pretty interesting, and I learned a lot through my mistakes. However, thankfully Apple also includes Instrument.app with the development suite that can help developers find memory leaks and everything else. When creating this experience for developers, Apple really did something right. It’s relatively easy to catch on to and fun to see progress.

• See App Store Development Part 2: Provisioning and Ad Hoc.