i. What You Need

Written by Scott Grosch

To follow along with this book, you’ll need the following:

• Xcode 11 and Swift 5: Xcode is the main development tool for writing code in Swift. This book’s content was tested with Xcode 11, but you should be able to follow with Xcode 10 as well. You can download the latest version of Xcode for free from the Mac App Store.

• Apple Developer Program membership: Sending push notifications requires having the ability to build, sign and run your app on a physical device with a Push Notification certificate — a capability reserved for paid members of the Apple Developer Program. The Apple Developer Program annual fee is $99 USD, but the exact amount might change based on local currency. More information on these memberships can be found at https://developer.apple.com/programs/. The information in this book will still prove an invaluable reference and resource to a developer without a paid membership, though.

If you haven’t installed the latest version of Xcode, be sure to do that before continuing with the book. The code covered in this book requires Swift 5 and Xcode 11 — you may get lost if you try to work with an older version.

The only two prerequisites for this book are an intermediate understanding of Swift and iOS development, along with a paid Apple Developer Program membership, if you wish to experiment with delivering notifications to devices.