macOS Dying to program in XCode

[a.e.delima]

Hello! I am new to these forums and i am dieing to start programing in XCode. My only problem is that: I do not have a Mac.

I am a recent university graduate, i have experience in other languages such as java, php, c, asp.. the list goes on.

I have no dout i can start programing in XCode in no time, I bought an iPhone and i have tons of ideas for applications however I have no way in developing these applications!!!

Is there a public server people can log on to a mac remotely and use a mac like a lab? Anyone familiar with the citrix labs? Something of that sort is what i am interested in.

Right now i do not have the funds available to use in purchasing an Mac, but it is noted on my calendar as my next investment.

Does anyone know any way that i can start using Xcode other than purchasing a mac?


Thanks for your responses much appreciated!

 

[ChrisA]

Does anyone know any way that i can start using Xcode other than purchasing a mac?

Some ideas..

• Hang out at the local Apple store?
• Buy an older Mac Mini for maybe about $350

 

[mathcolo]

Unfortunately there really aren't any online ways to get access to a mac with Xcode over the Internet. The best idea would probably be to buy a cheap but decent Mac off of Ebay or Craigslist.

 

[mongrol]

Also, you can learn Objective-C while you save up for a Mac by using gnustep. This is the open source implementation of Obj-C and the cocoa frameworks. This will give you a headstart on what you need to know when you do eventually get your hands on XCode.

 

[laprej]

1. Go to your nearest Barnes & Noble.
2. Buy a coffee.
3. Look for "iPhone Open Application Development" by J. Zdziarski.
4. Read book.
5. Drink coffee.
6. (Optional) Buy book.

The nice thing about that book is it explains all of the GNU tools required to build an iPhone app. Neither a Mac nor an iPhone is required. However, you may want one or the other to actually look at your app...

 

[QuantumLo0p]

Some ideas..

• Hang out at the local Apple store?
• Buy an older Mac Mini for maybe about $350

Seriously, hang out at an Apple store and use their computers if the employees are okay with it. Remember a while back, there was a young woman who launched a career by doing her work at an Apple store.

I'm not saying it is going to be universally accepted at all stores but you can certainly try. You may be turned down but maybe not.

Perhaps a year from now you'll have a number of apps on the Apple site, some free and some generating revenue. Then the big thing happens...WHAM! You land a killer job as a result of taking the chance. Who knows?! One thing for sure, you won't program ANYTHING at an Apple store unless you try to do it.

I would have to think this could be good PR for Apple, too. For that matter, would if Apple opened up computers, off in the corner of their stores or even a library-like building, where people could hang out, be creative, write code, etc-. Cool.

Regards.

 

[a.e.delima]

Thanks for the response you all.

$350 would be great. However I do not have much knowledge in macs, thus I was not sure what exactly I could do with a $350 machine. What type of mac should i be shopping for if i want to code in XCode 3, should i have the most recent version of Mac OSX?


Has anyone here coded in Xcode with a lower end machine? If so could you give me your mac's specs?


Thanks, this is just a way of me making sure that I can get my objective done thats all.

 

[jsw]

I just tried Xcode on my dual-1.66 mini (from early 2006). It has 1GB of RAM and a fairly slow HD.

It runs fine.

Yes, obviously, a Mac Pro will run faster. But I'd say just about any dual-core Mac you can find will run Xcode with no issues, and even the single-core mini would be fine, IMHO. So, basically, if it's an Intel Mac, it'll work fine.

Furthermore, I'd say any G5 you would buy would work fine. Also, it ran fine on my 12" 1.5GHz PowerBook G4.

I think you'd need to go pretty far back to find a Mac that wouldn't run Xcode 3. Arguably, any Mac on which you can install Leopard should give you at least a decent Xcode experience.

 

[Cromulent]

As long as you get a cheap Intel mac (MUST BE INTEL - EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!) you will be absolutely fine for programming with Xcode 3 and for programming on the iPhone (if that is your thing). I would not recommend getting a PowerPC machine as they are going to be pretty much obsolete with the next release of Mac OS X.

 

[a.e.delima]

As long as you get a cheap Intel mac (MUST BE INTEL - EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!) you will be absolutely fine for programming with Xcode 3 and for programming on the iPhone (if that is your thing). I would not recommend getting a PowerPC machine as they are going to be pretty much obsolete with the next release of Mac OS X.

Ahh thanks for the warning about the intel mac, I was just looking at some macs on kijiji and found iMac G3 for $100, those are no good? :/

 

[jsw]

Ahh thanks for the warning about the intel mac, I was just looking at some macs on kijiji and found iMac G3 for $100, those are no good? :/

No - that won't run Leopard.

And yes, the G4s and G5s will be obsolete, but I don't think you're looking for a Mac to keep for 5 years, just a cheap one to start on, yeah?

But if you can get an Intel one for just a bit more, it'd be worth it.

 

[Mac Player]

I have XCode 3 on an iMac 1.8 G5 and the auto completions are unacceptably slow.

 

[blueillusion]

Im running leopard and I code in Xcode daily.
It's excruciatingly painful. It's slow, has choppy scrolling, and it has bursts of dead time. I type for 5 or 6 seconds, nothing appears until a couple seconds after i finish typing.

Im using an ibook g4 1.33gighz with 512mb ram. I can't wait to find the money to upgrade to a macbook pro.

So if you want something that has decent speed, don't get an ibook haha.

 

[a.e.delima]

Would this computer be able to run leopard decently enough to program in xcode?

So sorry i sound like a newb here but just checking.

MAC COMPUTER PACKAGE: Power Mac G4 "Gigabit Ethernet" (400 MHz, 1 GB RAM, 40GB ATA/IDE/internal, DVD-RW +/-/DL/internal, USB, FireWire 400, ATI Rage 128 Pro AGP/VGA/ADC) + Apple Studio Display 17" (CRT, VGA, 1152 x 870) + Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" (DVD, working copy) - Mouse, keyboard, cables not included

 

[kainjow]

That should be fine. 400 MHz is slow though. Unless you'll be upgrading to Mac OS 10.5, you'll need to download Xcode 2.5.

 

[robbieduncan]

It won't run Leopard easily. It doesn't get close to the system requirements. You might be able to get there with third party tools to allow installing on an unsupported system...

Edit: Oh and if you are looking towards the iPhone SDK you need an Intel machine.

 

[crees!]

Would this computer be able to run leopard decently enough to program in xcode?

So sorry i sound like a newb here but just checking.

MAC COMPUTER PACKAGE: Power Mac G4 "Gigabit Ethernet" (400 MHz, 1 GB RAM, 40GB ATA/IDE/internal, DVD-RW +/-/DL/internal, USB, FireWire 400, ATI Rage 128 Pro AGP/VGA/ADC) + Apple Studio Display 17" (CRT, VGA, 1152 x 870) + Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" (DVD, working copy) - Mouse, keyboard, cables not included

As RobbieDuncan said, if you're going to create iPhone apps, you need an Intel machine. PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 won't cut it.