macOS How hard is it to program for mac if you know C, Flash and VB?

[Spanky Deluxe]

Hi,

Basically, I haven't done the switch yet to a mac and although I plan on keeping my AMD64 system for a good while yet, I'm seriously considering (again) to get a Mac Mini.
Since watching the famous keynote last week I have become incredibly enthusiastic about Apple. Old Steveo's speech really made me think 'I wanna get closer to Apple'. It was truly an eye opener at how much Apple really seem to care more and are more open and helpful when it comes to developers.

Anyway, I digress.

I'm interested in coding various apps on a Mac platform. The kind of stuff I like to do are generally either very much GUI dependent or are Scientific in origin. Matlab can handle the latter.
I like the ease of creating graphically driven apps in Flash but I'd rather program in something more native to the OS. I've got limited experience in C and VB. VB I also always liked due to the ease for GUI construction.

Does X-Code have the ability for doing stuff like this? And what exactly is X-Code?? Is it a bunch of programs for developing in various languages or is it a language in its own right?

 

[rccola70]

Most applications on mac are coded in Objective-C (a little different from C).

XCode is the environment (program) in which you write your code. It includes Interface Builder for making the interface of your program. XCode takes C, Objective-C, Java and some other languages. Its free (download off apple.com) and comes with OS X.

 

[devman]

If you want the Mac OS X experience you should be coding with Objective-C and Cocoa. Xcode is the free IDE that Apple ships but it is not installed by default. You can install it from your OS X install discs.

Here's a link to a tutorial and some overview info with more links.

http://developer.apple.com/document...jCTutorial/chapter01/chapter_1_section_1.html

http://developer.apple.com/macosx/xcode2.html

Note that Xcode 2.1 just shipped so you may want to download it and use it from the get go. There's a few changes regarding build styles and configuration files plus it uses a new project file format. Also, make sure you compile universal binaries so your app will run on PowerPC or Intel Macs in the future.

If you want a book to help you get started, then the Hillegass book is a tutorial style and while far from perfect, it is the best of a very lean selection.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321213149

 

[Soulstorm]

Actually, xCode is just what you need. Almost every program in Mac is done with xCode. Some people still use codewarrior, but as far as I heard (because I haven't used Codewarrior), xCode is far more flexible and it provides features that Codewarrior hasn't, like the support for 64-bit development using all abilities of G5.

Sure, you will be able to build your own interface, and push your program to its limits, if you are a hardcore programmer. I am a beginner, but I have found that xCode is fairly easy to use.

For Tiger, xCode is a one-way road.

 

[mj_1903]

Actually, xCode is just what you need. Almost every program in Mac is done with xCode. Some people still use codewarrior, but as far as I heard (because I haven't used Codewarrior), xCode is far more flexible and it provides features that Codewarrior hasn't, like the support for 64-bit development using all abilities of G5.

Sure, you will be able to build your own interface, and push your program to its limits, if you are a hardcore programmer. I am a beginner, but I have found that xCode is fairly easy to use.

For Tiger, xCode is a one-way road.

Not to mention that Universal Binaries require Xcode 2.1 or later.

 

[AlmostThere]

You can also use Python bindings to Cocoa, through PyObjC.
If you have a couple of languages already, you can pick up Python in a few days (it is VB easy) and if you have been using VB for Windows development, it is not a million miles away in terms of complexity.

 

[DXoverDY]

You can also use Python bindings to Cocoa, through PyObjC.
If you have a couple of languages already, you can pick up Python in a few days (it is VB easy) and if you have been using VB for Windows development, it is not a million miles away in terms of complexity.

and i believe ruby bindings.. bleh to python

 

[DavidLeblond]

Although I've never used it (though I downloaded a demo last night because I'm primarily a VB6 dev at work) I hear REALBasic comes pretty close to VB.

Plus it'll compile on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

 

[ITASOR]

Although I've never used it (though I downloaded a demo last night because I'm primarily a VB6 dev at work) I hear REALBasic comes pretty close to VB.

Plus it'll compile on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

If this helps, I just downloaded the REALbasic 15 day demo and made a little simple math program. I know VB6 and just used that and only a few things were different. I wouldn't use it though because it's essentially carbon it looks like and I would want to use xcode to make UB's.

 

[DavidLeblond]

If this helps, I just downloaded the REALbasic 15 day demo and made a little simple math program. I know VB6 and just used that and only a few things were different. I wouldn't use it though because it's essentially carbon it looks like and I would want to use xcode to make UB's.

Not sure if this means Universal Binaries, but REALBasic has plans to support MacTels

 

[ITASOR]

Awesome, thanks!