That notwithstanding, I'd like to dip my toes into the water of OS X development. What's the best book for getting acquainted with it? Bonus points if you know of a book that's going to receive a Leopard-inspired update soon.
Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
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Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#2It's excellent. I also found Apple's documentation quite good (Obj-C 2.0 stuff is great).
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#3So, in my opinion, get a feel for AppleScript, then move on to Objective-C and Cocoa.
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#4I am learning Obj-C and Cocoa right now and I'm using this book http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-X/dp/02017268... It's excellent. I also found Apple's documentation quite good (Obj-C 2.0 stuff is great).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321213149/bignerdran...
That being said, the third edition is coming out this spring.
On a completely separate note, I would be careful about relying on Obj-C 2.0. If you want to actually release something in the near future, you won't be able to rely on it if you want to include 10.4 users. And of course, there's the issue of how great garbage collection really is...
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#5I can't comment on Cocoa. But if you know C++ Qt is a dream. They have amazing libraries that make up for the shortcomings of C++. It also makes native look and feel cross-platform development a snap. Google Earth is built in Qt. It has a dual license, documentation + community are great. Can't say enough good things about it.
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#6I am learning Obj-C and Cocoa right now and I'm using this book http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-X/dp/02017268... It's excellent. I also found Apple's documentation quite good (Obj-C 2.0 stuff is great).
The second edition of that book is more relevant: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321213149/bignerdran... That being said, the third edition is coming out this spring. On a completely separate note, I would be careful about relying on Obj-C 2.0. If you want to actually release something in the near future, you won't be able to rely on it if you want to include 10.4 users. And of course, there's the issue of h…
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#7http://trolltech.com/ I can't comment on Cocoa. But if you know C++ Qt is a dream. They have amazing libraries that make up for the shortcomings of C++. It also makes native look and feel cross-platform development a snap. Google Earth is built in Qt. It has a dual license, documentation + community are great. Can't say enough good things about it.
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#8When I worked at the Apple Store, I was complaining to a customer that they didn't sell any books when it came to coding (everything had to do with using your ipod and beginners guides to the OS). Turns out this customer was from SV and worked for Apple, although he never mentioned what he really did. He suggested that if I "want to make money" to learn AppleScript. I taught myself by just reading tutorials online, a…
If you are looking for easier development environment, try pyobjc: http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net/
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#9http://trolltech.com/ I can't comment on Cocoa. But if you know C++ Qt is a dream. They have amazing libraries that make up for the shortcomings of C++. It also makes native look and feel cross-platform development a snap. Google Earth is built in Qt. It has a dual license, documentation + community are great. Can't say enough good things about it.
If you want to create Mac OS X apps, forget about multi platform stuff - your customers do not care if your app runs on other platforms, and they will ignore your app if it does look and behave like a great Mac app.
Even if I was only releasing on one platform I would still use it b/c it is so simple and powerful. And what's the harm in having your app available to the other 90% of computer users?
Re: Ask YC Hackers: Best text for learning to develop apps for Mac OS X
#10I am learning Obj-C and Cocoa right now and I'm using this book http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-X/dp/02017268... It's excellent. I also found Apple's documentation quite good (Obj-C 2.0 stuff is great).
The second edition of that book is more relevant: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321213149/bignerdran... That being said, the third edition is coming out this spring. On a completely separate note, I would be careful about relying on Obj-C 2.0. If you want to actually release something in the near future, you won't be able to rely on it if you want to include 10.4 users. And of course, there's the issue of h…
Note that with the release of Leopard, Xcode 3.0 and the new Interface Builder, a lot of the things in this book (such as the diagrams and directions) are no longer relevant and might be hard to follow.
The third edition of the book (which covers all the new things) will be out in the spring, according to the author.