Using Swift to Build an IMDb Search App

Install Xcode and create a project; lock the app to portrait orientation via the General settings, navigate the project navigator, storyboard, assets, and utilities areas to streamline future development.

Learn to design the IMDb search app interface with the storyboard in Xcode 6, adding labels, buttons, search bars, and image views, and sizing the view controller.

Learn to hook storyboard elements to Swift code using the MVC pattern, wiring outlets and actions in the view controller, and validating connections to update the UI.

Start at the source to locate an IMDb-like API, then use the Open Movie Database API (OMDb API) to fetch film data and test request speed and syntax.

Test API speed and reliability with a sample request, verify parameters like t (title) and y (year), and plan to populate data in a Swift app from the API.

Discover how to perform a Swift API request with a functional approach, encode queries, use a URLSession, parse JSON, and populate IMDb results (title, release, rating, plot).

Diagnose the IMDb search app's data task performance by ensuring UI updates run on the main queue, applying asynchronous handling and dispatch to the main queue for faster content display.

Create a dedicated IMDb API controller in Xcode, define a delegate protocol, and implement delegation to pass a dictionary of results back to the view controller, refining the model-view-controller pattern.

Separate the IMDb search api logic into its own api controller class using a protocol with a dictionary result, and leverage optional binding to avoid runtime errors in mvc.

Explore optional binding in Swift to safely unwrap a delegate and call didFinish with the result, preventing runtime errors and promoting safe programming.

Conform your view controller to the protocol and become a delegate for the IMDb API controller. Implement the required protocol functions to resolve compilation errors.

Learn how lazy stored properties in Swift delay initialization until first use. Use a lazy api controller with self as its delegate for searches.

Format the poster image from a URL by converting the poster string to a URL, creating NSData, and displaying the image in the poster image view with aspect fill.

Learn to add a UISearchBar, use its delegate to capture text, handle the search button, resign first responder, and reset the field for IMDb searches.

Hook up a UI tap gesture recognizer to the view, wire a target-action pair, and implement a selector to dismiss the keyboard by resigning first responder on the search bar.

Enable an end-to-end IMDb search by wiring the search bar to trigger the API call, removing the bottom button, and testing live queries like King of Kong.

Identify and address UX and UI issues in the app by repositioning the search bar, improving the white background, enriching imagery, and refining typography.

Explore sources of UI inspiration from mobile patterns, app dot itcz e dot us, and dribble, filter by topic, and note current design trends for the IMDb search app.

Discover the advantages of predesigned app development: establish brand identity and flow, solve UX issues early, and speed UI work using tools like Adobe Creative Suite before coding.

Learn to implement blur effects using UIVisualEffectView and UIBlurEffect in Swift to create a dynamic blurred background from poster images for an IMDb search app.

Extend Swift's string type with a subscript to split a title at a colon. Implement parse title from subtitle in the view controller and update the title and subtitle labels.

Learn to fetch the current Rotten Tomatoes tomato meter via the API parameter tomatoes=true, parse the data, and display the percentage in a styled label in the IMDb search app.

Finish the IMDb search app by refining the UI, creating a perfect circle poster, adjusting the yellow header, and enabling internet-driven results with rating, release data, and rotten tomatoes.

Celebrate building an IMDb search app in Swift using Xcode 6, making an API call and updating the UI, while overcoming beta software challenges and extending Swift string type.