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Basic development questions
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
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Please redirect me to the appropriate place if there is one, but my question is VERY basic. How does one start to develop Macintosh programs? I am a high school teacher, and I see the need for simple utilities that can't be too hard to program. But I don't know how and where to begin.
I do have some skills: I can program in C++, have access to an older version of CodWarrior at school, and have been a MacAddict since the Mac Plus days. But I am also getting older and slower, and have not had formal computer programming instruction for a long time.
Thanks.
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Ellen Loehman
Manzano High School - Albuquerque NM
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Ellen Loehman
Albuquerque Public Schools
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
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I should add that my C++ programming experience is on a gnu compiler in a unix environment.
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Ellen Loehman
Manzano High School - Albuquerque NM
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Ellen Loehman
Albuquerque Public Schools
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Boulder, CO, USA
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Cool. 
There have been a few threads on this board addressing the "How do I start programming on OS X?" question. They've got some good suggestions and pointers, though they mostly speak to those without any coding chops at all.
(Oh, you *are* interested in OS X programming, right? Not OS 9?)
I'd take a look at Project Builder, which comes with OS X and is free. You could also use Codewarrior, but its presence on X is still kinda shaky (I got a new release at WWDC today -- we'll see how much things have improved... ). Project builder is actually just a GUI front-end for the command-line compiler and debugger on X, so you'll be in fairly familiar territory.
You more or less have 3 choices of API for development involving a GUI: Carbon, Cocoa, or Java. Carbon has a C API, Cocoa is written in Objective C, and Java is ... Java. Cocoa's a sophisticated framework which does a lot of work for you and is probably the best route for the kinds of things it sounds like you'd be doing. On the other hand, you'd have to learn Obj-C (or Java). Which probably wouldn't be too tough, if you have a good grasp of C++.
Carbon isn't nearly as programmer-friendly as Cocoa or Java, but it's readily accesible for someone used to working in C/C++. Also, there are a couple of frameworks out there to make life easier. Powerplant and MacApp spring to mind. These both leverage C++. Another reason that Carbon may appeal to you is that its purpose is to allow developers to write for both OS X and OS 9.
If you're not even looking to make a GUI, by the way, you can use X's command-line tools and development environment just as you would with any other *nix.
developer.apple.com is your friend.
HTH
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Admin Emeritus  Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Boston, MA
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If you're interested in programming for Mac OS X, try searching OS X - Developer for the programming FAQ.
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"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain" (Schiller)
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
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Thanks. Since I have not yet upgraded to system X, I wasn't making the connection that a linux kernel meant that linux applications will run in a command lind mode. As soon as school is out (2 more days....).
Are there books that talk about Mac software development?
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Ellen Loehman
Albuquerque Public Schools
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Cape Canaveral, FL
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