SW development on the Mac

o-maco-mac
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So how exactly do you develop software on the Mac?

I don't think i "get" it yet...



I figure I do the work using project builder...then what?



As you can see, I'm terribly lost right now.



Q: Who are the people out there doing SW development with their Mac's?

Q: How are they doing it?

Q: In others words, I'm sitting in front of my laptop and...what do I do?



Help??

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    1. Go to http://developer.apple.com



    2. Read about Objective-C and Cocoa



    http://developer.apple.com/documenta...coa/Cocoa.html



    Read the fundamentals docs first.



    3. Install the Developer Tools (either from an install CD, or obtain by becoming a free "online" developer at http://connect.apple.com )



    4. Start programming with Project builder and using Interface builder to create the GUI of the app.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    well, you're going to have to learn how to program. there are several programming languages available, many that work on macs. if you are primarily interested in macosx programming, i suggest you learn C, then Objective-C. C works on almost everything that has a microprocessor. Objective-C works on most computers, but is only common on Mac OS X and now unpopular nextstep. three of the most popular languages (not based on any statistics, but a feeling i have) are c, c++ and java. to take full advantage of Cocoa and all the Mac OS X libraries, objc would be best, and c or c++ would be less preferred; i dont like java, so i cant really recommend it.



    it'll probably take you a while to learn a programming language, and to become proficient in it. but, once you know a programming language, then you've arrived at the next step (one of the toughest to pass): coming up with a programming idea. these can come from your own interests, ripping off other programs, from friends, out of boredom, or whatever. personally, when i have nothing to program, i write games. once you get an idea, you usually have to investigate (or write) related libraries and sdks, become familiar with them, and then use them in your program. of course, if you just want to program for programming's sake, you could write a Hello-World prog (a program, that does nothing special but print the sentence "Hello, World!" in some way on the screen). not much there in most programming languages, and its really boring, but its something. if you're new to programming, there's a lot of minutiea to learn about in a Hello-World program.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    You can access cocoa libraries with c++ right? If so...where can I find information about how to use them with c++?



    I think learning cocoa (objc) would be awesome, but if I can do it with c++ it would be awesome too!



    Any information on this?
  • Reply 4 of 8
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
    Kickaha and Amorph couldn't moderate themselves out of a paper bag. Abdicate responsibility and succumb to idiocy. Two years of letting a member make personal attacks against others, then stepping aside when someone won't put up with it. Not only that but go ahead and shut down my posting priviledges but not the one making the attacks. Not even the common decency to abide by their warning (afer three days of absorbing personal attacks with no mods in sight), just shut my posting down and then say it might happen later if a certian line is crossed. Bullshit flag is flying, I won't abide by lying and coddling of liars who go off-site, create accounts differing in a single letter from my handle with the express purpose to decieve and then claim here that I did it. Everyone be warned, kim kap sol is a lying, deceitful poster.



    Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.



    Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Do you want to do this for a living or a hobby/shareware/freeware author?
  • Reply 6 of 8
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AirSluf

    You can only access Cocoa calls with a Obj-C style message e.g. [obj message:argument1:argument2], which is conceptually the same as a C++ message e.g. obj.message(argument1, argument2). You can mix and match as long as you are calling the right objects by the right conventions and make sure any files that are mixed have .mm as the extension. This is quite simplistic but enough to get you started.



    we should also mention, that in doing this you are no longer using c++, nor objective-c, but "Objective-C++". i don't think that language compiles anywhere but on apple computers. also, as well as the '.mm' extension, you can use '.M' (capitalized). basically, objc++ is objc + c++, but there are a few changes made in order to deal with their clashes. and, also to correct a small mistake: it is possible to hit Cocoa from java (objc isn't the only way).
  • Reply 7 of 8
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Maybe I will use Objective-C++ to make my programs as I already know C++ (well not graphical). So either way I have to learn how to code in graphical interfaces to my program. Which would you recommend?



    So everything is the same with Objective-C++, you just reformat your code?



    I guess you #include "whatever" to get the cocoa/objc classes?
  • Reply 8 of 8
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    Maybe I will use Objective-C++ to make my programs as I already know C++ (well not graphical). So either way I have to learn how to code in graphical interfaces to my program. Which would you recommend?



    So everything is the same with Objective-C++, you just reformat your code?



    I guess you #include "whatever" to get the cocoa/objc classes?



    there are some minor differences. i don't even know what they are without looking them up. i would recommend that you try to learn objc, and going forward use objc's OO instead of c++'s. it'll be better for you. but, if you have a lot of c++ (or are unwilling to convert), then objc++ can be good. with objc, and luckily inherited in objc++, is a great little feature: #import. With that, you don't have to write the #ifndef, #define, #endif parts yourself. The compiler guarantees that each include file is only include'd once. (And, I'm about 90% sure that gcc will allow you to do this in pure c++, as long as you dont have the ANSI option on) So, when you 'include' Cocoa bits, you actually '#import <..>' them.
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