Update: The linked blog post in this article that explains how to create a nibless Xcode project is now dead. Go read this post instead.

This might sound heretical, but here goes: I don’t like Interface Builder.

I used the 2.x versions to build this. I got along with it acceptably well at the time, I guess, although it was never my favorite program. Then Apple completely rewrote it from the ground up for 3.0, whenceforth it didst suck, yea verily.

My complaint is a simple one: Interface Builder is 87 billion times more complex than it should be. Dozens of windows, hundreds of tabs, thousands of buttons, sliders, text input fields, check boxes, outlets, hinges, beads, knobs, joints, pipes, and zippers. Every time I start it up, I dread the ordeal I know I’m in for. It takes me half an hour to find the one check box I need in a sea of extraneous crud. Once I get a view or window set up appropriately, the steps I went through to get there are not easily documented or remembered.

I know that laying out user interfaces and wiring up controls is a big job. I know that somebody must need all that crud I never use, or it wouldn’t be there. But couldn’t Apple use its legendary user interface skills to de-emphasize the infrequently-used parts? I’m dyin’ here.

If you’re writing a Mac/Cocoa app, I guess you’re stuck with it. You’ve probably got at least a few fairly complicated windows to manage, along with dozens of menu items. But if you’re writing an iPhone/UIKit app, the value proposition changes. iPhone apps tend to have only a handful of user interface objects and connections. In this scenario, Interface Builder’s weaknesses outweigh its strengths.

It’s easy to assume that it’s impossible to build an iPhone or Mac app without Interface Builder. As a matter of fact, I once spent several months figuring out how to build Cocoa apps without NIBs, because I was writing a cross-platform GUI framework, so obviously they had to go. It wasn’t easy, because it’s not done very often, but I succeeded. And the first version of the iPhone SDK didn’t even give you the opportunity to use Interface Builder, you were forced to create your user interface in code.

Now we reach the part of the blog entry where I should tell you how to make an iPhone app without NIBs. Alas, this gentleman has already done a far better job of it than I would have. So you can instead read what he wrote, secure in the knowledge that someone else produced a solution, while I produced a bunch of hot air and whining. You’re welcome.

I’m now working on the user interface for my first iPhone app. I have several views set up, all completely NIB-free. It’s far preferable to create a user interface element in 10 lines of code, rather than making yet another soul-destroying 20-minute slog through Interface Builder. I suppose it’s possible that I’ll run into some situation that forces me to reconsider, but at this point, I’m willing to go far, FAR out of my way to avoid having to invite that sad piece of software back into my life, thank you very much.

Categories: cocoa, iphone, mac, objective-c, programming
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