Mac OS X Programming

Don't start with PHP. If you want to make games try out using Python and Panda3D (Python 3D game engine). You'll need to learn Python first but once you have you should be able to jump right in.

 

PHP is not any easier to learn than C/Objective-C (in fact it may be harder to learn since you'd be dealing with a server environment), so if web programming is not the direction you want to go then learning PHP first would be a mistake. Most games these days are programmed in C++, often used in conjunction with some scripting language.

 

What kind of apps/games are you looking to work on? This may help indicate which path you should take to get started.

 

C++ is C with classes plus some "magic". I found the C++ syntax easier to understand than Obj-C when starting out but that might differ person to person.

Yes. Go buy a book and follow it step by step and then start working on your own stuff. Also make sure you do a lot of coding. If you read through the basics and think "hey I could do this as a test" then go code that thing. If you get stuck go read a bit more in the book. Then iterate that process.

It's most likely best to also pick up a book on game logic programming before starting on the gaming stuff. You need to think in a specific way when you structure gaming logic.

 

Generally in Obj-C but you can include logic in C++ although GUI stuff needs to be Obj-C. Generally there is nothing gained from using C++ unless you already have code in C++ you'd like to reuse.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Helpful_development_resources#Game_development + the book section there

 

For game development you might want to look at Cocos2d for iPhone, while the name implies it is iPhone specific when you download it there are two folders -- Mac and iPhone. I would recommend Cocos2d because it is probably the best way for beginners to create Objective-C Mac games. If you don't want to program there is always the option of Gamesalad.