Dependency Graph Tool for iOS Projects

One of the tools, which I used to use with Symbian C++ projects, was an automated dependency graph generator. Can't recall the name, had totally forgotten anything like it ever existed. Totally happy in my ignorance. Blissful happy-go-lucky cowboy coding.

Until I found this tool: objc_dep.py at GitHub by nst, which does "Graph the import dependancies in an Objective-C project".

Oh the memories! Oh the horrow, when I checked my current projects...

How to Autogenerate App Version Number from GIT

Application needs a version number, naturally. It's publicly used to identify, which version customer is using (and reporting bugs about).

However there is a very important technical reason to take good care of version number: if you want to update application, the new version number must be bigger than the old one. Sounds easy, yet again...

Let's check the documentation:

How to Sort NSDictionary

Let's get this straight: you cannot sort NSDictionary.

Dictionary is a collection of keys and their objects without an order, therefore you cannot change that non-existing order. You can sort only array data types, since they are basically ordered lists.

There are still good news. You can get all keys from any dictionary as an array and sort them. Usually this is enough.

When NOT to Release Your Application

Regardless of all "release early, release often" and "fail early, fail often" talk, there really are moments, when you SHOULD NOT RELEASE your new application.

This could be a trick question, but it's not. Just another hard lessons learned, another strike by faceless market powers. The answer is Thanksgiving, of course.

Console On Device 1.0 Now Available in App Store

I am happy to tell that second of my old three apps is finally available in App Store:

Console On Device 1.0

It's mainly a developer utility to check iOS console output within your device, without a computer. However many released apps write debug data into console, so occasional users can use it to check what's going on under the iOS hood - even whether some app really crashed or not (check "ReportCrash").

So why did I write it? Because I needed something like that in a real customer project, but couldn't find. Here's the story, without any names:

Releasing Console On Device - Lessons Learned

Trying to make my third release, an application called "Console On Device". Learned some new things - and old ones, too.

First of all, application name was already reserved. I did extensive research and tough name planning, when starting to design this app - in February 2011. Surprisingly at November 2011 someone else had already released an app with "my" name!

Lesson learned: I could have created iTunes Connect app record right away to reserve the name. However in this case luck was on my side: I found a new better name!

Rise and Fall of FontType in App Store

It's three weeks since release of FontType, my first app under my own name (actually Jomnius). It's been ... interesting times. Didn't expect big sales, but hoped to get at least a few users. Nope.

Some comments and suggestions for update. None. Bug reports. Nada. Hello, anyone there?