private int MyAwesomeFunction(int pVar)
{
// coding magic
return pVar++;
}

…where pVar = 10, the returned value will NOT be 11!  The returned value will still be 10.  If you want to return an incremented value for pVar, do the following:

private int MyAwesomeFunction(int pVar)
{
// coding magic
return ++pVar; // or return pVar+1;
}

Just a case of postfix vs prefix.  In the previous example, the variable never gets incremented because the postfix operator would get evaluated after the line is processed, but that never happens because we’re returning the pVar.  By flipping to a prefix operator, we guarantee that we evaluate the opperator against the variable before we return it.

It’s also worth mentioning that being a little verbose here is also good.  Explicitly stating that you’re adding 1 to the variable (as displayed in the commented code) is the same number of characters and we eliminate the confusion over what’s getting returned.

Happy Coding!

1. Keep your .gitignore file.
2. Clear your GIT cache.  Don’t worry, this won’t delete any of your local files, just what GIT is tracking.
   git rm -r --cached .
3. Add everything in your project.  Your .gitignore file will exclude what you want to ignore now and start tracking the good stuff.
   git add .
4. Commit your changes.
   git commit -m "Now my .gitignore file works correctly!"

Happy codding!

For the other devs in my shoes looking to play with MonoTouch, here are some things to keep in mind:

• If you want to subclass something like UIView, UIImageView, or any class that’s originally an Objective-C class & use your new class in your  XIB, you need to…
  • Make sure your constructor includes IntPtr constructor.
  • Sometimes you’ll need to register your classes like this:

    [MonoTouch.Foundation.Register("MyAwesomeView")]
    public class MyAwesomeView : UIView
    {
       public MyAwesomeView (IntPtr handle) : base(handle)
       {
          Initialize ();
       }
       //My awesome code here!
    }
    

  • If you simply type in the name of your custom subclassed view into IB without declaring it in code first, sometimes you get a “partial class” in the view controller’s xib code-behind file (MySensationalViewController.xib.designer.cs).  If that happens, you DON’T need to register your class, but you DO need to set your class definition to ‘partial’.  Here’s an example:

    public partial class MyFantasticView : UIView
    {
       public MyFantasticView  (IntPtr handle) : base(handle)
       {
          Initialize ();
       }
       //Your awesome code here!
    }

• Much like Visual Studio, you get awesome debugging tools so make sure to get familiar with “watches” (While at  break point: View -> Debug Windows -> Watch) and the “Expression Evaluator” (While at  break point: Run -> Expression Evaluator).
• There are also helpful tools such as a “Reg-Ex Toolkit” and an “Add-in” manager that can be hooked into repositories for even more functionality…as more repositories become available

When you have a friendly, yet powerful IDE to work with, developing software becomes enjoyable.  I’ll definitely be using this IDE to create my first iPhone app submission to the AppStore.  As I learn more about MonoTouch, I’ll make sure to post my findings here.  In the meanwhile, those of you looking to get more info about MonoTouch should checkout its homepage.  The MonoTouch site has a ton of tutorials, documentation, and multiple ways to plug into the MT community.  At a glance, you might scoff at the asking price of $399 for a yearly license, but when you consider how much faster you’ll be able to put together quality apps, it might be worth it for you.   I know it is for me.

Happy Coding!

Thing 1: FasterCSV is really cool!  It’s easy to use and does exactly what it should.  Here’s Scott Becker’s exporting tutorial.  For importing, i’ve hacked together bits from Peter Larkmund’s travels and the FasterCSV documentation.  Thanks to these tutorials, AMB will give users the ability to upload and export CSVs.

Thing 2: Default values for the win!  If you have a table that has a column for an amount, feel free to set the default value to 0.00.  Otherwise you won’t be able to do the following:

a = Account.new
a.amount += 20

…because a.amount will be nil.  You’ll throw an error and if you just updated a bunch of code, you might waste an hour trying to figure out why you’re throwing an exception.  However, if you declare a default value, you’ll be able to avoid any issues.

If you want me to go into further detail on either thing, just leave a comment.

Thanks for reading and happy hacking.