[supernature]

Okay, I have little background in programming. I only did Apple basic when I was a kid, and some pascal in College, but it's been over ten years since I last programmed (except HTML). Can anyone recommend a good book to get to get started in programming.

Specifically, I'm looking for a good book that has a very good glossary of C++ commands and a good book for Cocoa. I'm the kind of guy who doesn't want a tutorial or such. Just give me the proper headers, a thorough but efficient guideline of correct syntax, and the same thorough and efficient defintions of C++ or Objective C commands.

My intention is to start writing Cocoa apps, and I don't have the patience (as of now) to read through useless words. Thanks for any advice.

[davecom]

Originally posted by supernature:
<STRONG>Okay, I have little background in programming. I only did Apple basic when I was a kid, and some pascal in College, but it's been over ten years since I last programmed (except HTML). Can anyone recommend a good book to get to get started in programming.

Specifically, I'm looking for a good book that has a very good glossary of C++ commands and a good book for Cocoa. I'm the kind of guy who doesn't want a tutorial or such. Just give me the proper headers, a thorough but efficient guideline of correct syntax, and the same thorough and efficient defintions of C++ or Objective C commands.

My intention is to start writing Cocoa apps, and I don't have the patience (as of now) to read through useless words. Thanks for any advice.</STRONG>

Without a tutorial you won't understand the fundamentals of object oriented programming or data structures and such. Commands are really just library calls, I think you're talking about syntax rather. Either way you need to start with C. I recommend you start with "The C Programming Language" by Keminie and Ritchie(Wrong name spellings). Then move on to Apple's Objective-C tutorial.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh. But you can't just jump into C++ and Cocoa without some background.

[supernature]

Thanks for the reply. Well in response to the comment about one to not jump directly in to C++ or Objective-C, then how about a book that has good reference for C. A classroom book-like manual works for some people, but for me a reference manual is nice.

[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: supernature ]

[Wixar]

I second davecom's suggestion. "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan and Ritchie (right name spelling) is a very high quality reference as well as a fine tutorial. C gurus refer to two sources when they're unsure: the ISO C standard, and K&R (as the book is called). And C beginners can use it as well. Make sure you get the second edition; the first edition is no longer correct.

If you're itching to get started, grab some sample code and mess with it. Apple's Currency Converter tutorial might be a fine place to start.

-Peter

[seb2]

i think davecom's suggestion about apple's tutorials is right. there is quite a lot of references and tutorials coming with the developer tools. so, if you don't want to read useless words, that should suffice.

i've never read their tutorials on oop since i was familiar with that, but the currencyconverter tutorial guides you through project builder and interface builder and shows you the basics of how to start a cocoa project.

and the classes that were documented by apple (which unfortunately isn't true for all) are documented quite well.

oh, and have a look at www.stepwise.com and www.cocoadevcentral.com, they also have lots of tutorials and sample code.