If you're an iOS developer or QA professional tapping through an app to reproduce bugs or performance issues you thought were solved two releases ago, then you need to check out "Test iOS Apps with UI Automation: Bug Hunting Made Easy" (http://tinyurl.com/pp3rkr9), an US$36, 20o-page book from Pragmatic Bookshelf, $36).

Readers will learn how to script the user interface, assert correct behavior, stub external dependencies, reproduce performance problems, organize test code for the long haul, and automate the whole process so the machine does the work. You'll walk through a comprehensive strategy with techniques using Apple's tools that you can apply to your own apps.

Through this book you'll learn how to do full-stack testing of your iOS apps in both the simulator and on the device with Apple's built-in tools. You'll write behavioral tests in UI Automation that help protect against regressions. You'll write scripts to repeat steps in Instruments to reproduce performance bugs. With a little ingenuity, you'll build a workflow that gives the feedback you need.

What's more, you'll grow a test suite by working with a real application that uses Core Data and network requests. Learn how to describe expected behavior in test scripts, launch the app in a specific state, and stub external dependencies for completely isolated and repeatable tests. Along the way, you'll practice how to organize your test code and run it hands-free from the command line. By the end, you'll have the tools and habits you need to tackle the unique testing problems you'll face while building best-of-breed native iOS apps for your users.

Author Joe Penn is a software developer. When not consulting with clients, he speaks at conferences, is the mad scientist behind the featured apps at navel-labs.com, and is scribbler-in-chief at cocoamanifest.net, a technical blog for exceptional iOS resources and commentary.