Month: January 2017

[Download the full Xcode project from GitHub.]

In this series of posts, “Basic animation, Auto Layout, and view geometry – Part X,” we’re learning about basic animation in several steps. In yesterday’s post, “Basic animation, Auto Layout, and view geometry – Part 1” we covered setting up a storyboard scene using Auto Layout. Today, we’ll be using some basic UIView geometry to play with shapes and sizes. Tomorrow, we’ll be writing the code to explore iOS animation capabilities. I’ll be writing code in Swift 3.0, then later providing Objective-C versions. I’ll make all the source code available to y’all on GitHub as we move forward.

NOTE: The iOS skill level required herein is “beginner” to “intermediate.” One of the purposes of this blog is to help aspiring new iOS developers get started on the right foot. For all you seasoned (or “advanced”) developers out there, I encourage you to stick with this blog as we’ll be covering very complex iOS scenarios too. Everyone can benefit from these articles, including myself, by getting your feedback.

So what’s this stuff I call “basic UIView geometry?” All user interface components, like UIView’s and UIButton’s, must be positioned on an Apple device’s screen. They’re also objects that occupy space, so they have width and height. In order to position user interface components properly on screen, you use Auto Layout, which boils down to a series of geometric equations called “constraints.” According to Apple, “The layout of your view hierarchy is defined as a series of linear equations. Each constraint represents a single equation. Your goal is to declare a series of equations that has one and only one possible solution.” Let’s make this all more concrete and define two terms you’ll always need to know.

Continue reading “Basic animation, Auto Layout, and view geometry – Part 2”