macOS How to start Mac programming?

[Shaduu]

Recently I've become very interested programming but I have no idea where to start. I have knowledge of web languages such as HTML and XML and I know that they probably will not help my programming at all. So really what I'm asking is where to start; languages I should learn and any developer tools that could aid me. Thanks a lot.

 

[toddburch]

"Programming" is pretty vague. Database applications? Command line tool? GUI interface accounting program type stuff? Cell phone games? Client side? Client-Server? Cross platform? Portability?

You could learn with a scripting language or a compiled language. You could learn procedural or object oriented. Do you have one in mind?

Todd

 

[Shaduu]

I was thinking of GUI interfacing and basic utilities although I have absolutely no idea how difficult either of those would be. Really, what would be a solid start point for programming for OS X? I figure I just need to start learning and see where I can go from there.

 

[bronxbomber92]

I would start with the Objective-C language and Cocoa then. Buy a good book ( Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X by Aaron Hillegass), start learning the language, and read, read, read

Apple has a developer site: developer.apple.com. They have a free book/pdf for learning Objective-C.

Here are my personla favorite sites for learning Cocoa:
cocoadevcentral.com <-- EXCELLENT tutorials
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/ct/37 <-- EXCELLENT tutorials
cocoadev.com <-- Cocoa wiki
idevgames.com <-- Mac game programming forum
idevapps.com <-- Mac application programming forum
http://www.cocoalab.com/cocoalab/index.php <-- Free ebook!

 

[Shaduu]

Thank you very much. Looks like I've got a lot of learning to be doing.

 

[bronxbomber92]

Best of luck, be prepared for a world of frustration, late nights and FUN! lol

 

[NickFalk]

a great place to start...

This is a great place to start for a beginner.

 

[ArchiMark]

Steve Kochan's "Programming in Objective-C" Book

FWIW, Shaduu, I bought Steve Kochan's "Programming in Objective-C" book a week ago. I just finished chapter 3 yesterday.

So far, I've found this book to be very well written, very clear explanations and good use of examples to try out. Kochan leads you through in a logical progression, building up your skills as you go. He doesn't assume that you've had much if any previous programming experience.

Highly recommend this book!

As others have said to me in other forums, study Objective-C first, then worry about Cocoa afterwards....

HTH,

Mark

Recently I've become very interested programming but I have no idea where to start. I have knowledge of web languages such as HTML and XML and I know that they probably will not help my programming at all. So really what I'm asking is where to start; languages I should learn and any developer tools that could aid me. Thanks a lot.