There are a number of key shortcuts in Xcode 6 that can make your programming more efficient. They are great for quickly navigating code files, locating bugs, and adding new features to your application.
Of course, your goal in this article is to quickly manipulate the code file, or to make the Xcode palette more suitable for your little book screen.
Of all the shortcuts in Xcode 6, the following are the first to learn. After you learn how to use them, you may never be able to live without them.
Xcode navigation shortcut
1. Project navigator :Command+1
Take a quick look at code, images, and user interface files.
2. Show/hide the navigator panel :Command+0
When you take screenshots you may want to hide things that are not relevant to what you’re interested in. This shortcut is useful if you want to use a secondary editor or if you want to design the user interface and link it to code.
3. Display/hide the utility panel :Command+Option+0
The utility panel is mostly used for editing user interface files, and you can hide it when you’re only thinking about writing code.
4. Open the file in the auxiliary editor: Select the file in the project navigator and perform Option+ left-click operation.
A quick way to open the Assistant Editor — just hold down the Option key and click on the file you want to open to the right of the current edit box.
Xcode search shortcut key
When you’re typing code and suddenly want to add a feature or fix a Bug, the quickest way to do this is to look it up. Instead of scrolling through hundreds of lines of code, you can just use find to jump straight to a specific code segment.
5. Find Navigator :Command+Shift+F
Use item search to find the number of times a variable or method name is mentioned. Can be matched by instance, and upper and lower case letters can be ignored. You can also replace the names of the variables you are looking for.
6. File jump bar :Control+6 (type method/variable name +Enter jump)
Jumps to a line of code in the current code file. If there are thousands of lines of code in your file, you can use this shortcut to narrow your search and insert code where needed to add new functionality.
7. Quick open: Command + Shift + O
Keyboard lovers who don’t like using a mouse will appreciate this shortcut, which allows you to jump directly to a method definition or specified code file.
8. Jump bar and quickly open search input shortcut keys
Type the first letter to quickly switch to a file or find a specific line of code. For example, in the viewController.swift file, press Command + Shift + O, then type vDL, and the first result shown is with
ViewDidLoad ().
Type the first letter to enter less to search more.
9. Quick switching between.h and.m files in objective-C or C++ : Control + Command + Up Arrow
If you write programs in Objective-C and C++, or use open source code written in another language, you may need to look up existing code. You can use the “Control + Command + Up Arrow” key combination to operate in both
Fast switching between related files, such as header files and implementation files in Objective-C. This would be a bit inappropriate if you were writing code using Swift, which uses a single code file.
Application compilation and cleanup
You have to run your new app before you can play with it, but sometimes Xcode doesn’t work well enough to run your project, so you need to clean up the projects that don’t work.
The following shortcuts will help you use the mouse as little as possible during code writing.
10. Run app: Command + R
When writing code, I usually use this shortcut to run the application by myself. Test your application as much as possible so you can find and fix bugs in your application early on.
11. Clear project: Command + Shift + K
Maybe once Xcode runs wrong, or the application doesn’t respond, or something unexpected happens, the first thing you want to do is clean up the project and run it again. If that doesn’t solve the problem, well, shut down Xcode
, open it again. If your app doesn’t work, check for error messages and use your advantage as a “Googler” to get help. However, this can not be done too often, it will slow down the development of the program. It will remove all intermediate files, which will take time to recreate.
Clear the Xcode project when it fails to run
12. Build the application: Command + B
Checking your code to make sure it works is something you always have to do, and compiling your app project lets you make sure it works before you write the next feature. Even though Xcode checks very quickly after code is written, there are delays
Be late, or give inappropriate error prompts. You don’t have to run the application all the time, and if you just make small changes, compilation can do a quick check that goes back and adds the next line of code.
Compile the code to ensure that the application is free from any bug problems
Documentation and Help
Self-learning is very important in the learning process, and for developers who have not looked through the Xcode documentation, these shortcuts can help them look at relevant code references and better understand the code provided by Apple to develop a more robust app.
13. Command + Shift + 0 (Zero)
Xcode is used to install documents in the background, and supports offline search and view. It is very suitable for working outside. Open the documentation and references, and type a key word in your code. The Xcode documentation also provides some additional resources and sample projects.
Learn how to use the code in the Documentation and Reference guide
14. Quick help: Perform Option + left-click on the class or method name
Inline help helps developers quickly learn how to use classes or snippets of code. Perform Option + left-click on a variable, class, or method name to obtain more details. If you click on the reference link at the bottom of the pop-up view, you can easily jump to the documentation provided by Xcode. You can also perform Option+ double-clicking on a variable, class, or method name to make it easier to jump to a document.
Get quick help writing code
Other shortcut keys:
“Recent preference for Command + Shift + J shortcuts that display the files you currently have open in the project navigator. I’ve been spending a lot of time with a large code base recently, and this key combination can jump through the code base very quickly.”
– weendex
“I love CTRL + 1, which opens the ‘Show Related Items’ pop-up menu. If you have placed your cursor in any method, you can easily access it from the view that pops up by clicking ‘CTRL + 1’
All callers and callees of a method. I often look at the caller of a method to learn how to use it.” – skoll
“Cmd +. Easy pause running iOS emulator” — Weendex
“I often use a shortcut not mentioned in this article, which is’ Command + Option + Shift + left-click ‘on a file. This key combination displays a small pop-up view that you can see where you want to open it, such as an auxiliary editor, TAB, or window.” – Cheezybob
What shortcut keys do you like to use? Share with everyone! 14 Xcode Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts – Memorize and Improve Your Productivity