Whether you are targeting Mac OS X or the iPhone, at some point your Cocoa application is probably going to need to persist data. You could struggle with SQLite, generate XML, or create your own binary format. Or, you can save time and energy by taking advantage of Apple's Core Data API instead.

Core Data makes it easy for you to work with object graphs and to persist data-but there are plenty of pitfalls and issues to watch out for. This book shows you everything from versioning to integrating with Quick Look, Sync Services, and Spotlight. You'll see how to boost performance and work in multithreaded applications. You'll work with Core Data on both the desktop and the iPhone.

By the end of Core Data , you'll have built a full-featured application, gained a complete understanding of Core Data, and learned how to integrate your application into OS X.

As an extra bonus, you'll see numerous recipes that are useful in unusual situations, or even in places where you wouldn't have thought to use the Core Data API before. It will become another indispensable tool in your kit.

About the Author

Marcus S. Zarra is the owner of Zarra Studios LLC and the creator of seSales and iWeb Buddy. In addition, he is a co-author of "Cocoa Is My Girlfriend," a wildly popular blog covering all aspects of Cocoa development. Marcus S. Zarra has been developing software since the mid-1980s and has written software in all of the major technological fields.