Checking Out the Power of Xcode

The longer you work with Xcode, the more adept you become at using it and the greater the range of its capabilities you learn to use effectively. This chapter will be a leg up in that direction.

We'll make a really simple app, and then look at several ways to increase our efficiency while coding by a significant margin. Speed of coding is not everything, that's very true, but saving time gives you more room to plan, to think, and to experiment, and those are the things it is sometimes hardest to find time for when that deadline or go-live is looming over you.

It's time to take your Xcode skills up a few notches.

In this chapter, you will do the following:

  • Create a sketch app to try out these new ideas on
  • Learn how to use code snippets to code more quickly and reliably
  • See how special literals enable your logs to give you clearer and more tailored information
  • Learn some advanced breakpoint techniques
  • Implement so-called behaviors to streamline working with Xcode
  • Use schemes to quickly change between app flavors
  • Create and use custom build configurations and compiler flags