macOS Best resources to start mac development

[ciaoben]

Hi, I want to make a little app for mac.

I am a developer, but haven't never done something in the OS X/iOS ecosystem.


I find a lot of courses and books about iOS programming, but I am struggling to find something useful for mac.

Anyone can suggest something to me?

 

[superscape]

Hi,

Firstly, if you code in Swift and/or Objective-C then what you learn for iOS will remain true for OS X. Some will argue that Swift is the language of the future and they may be right. You'll find more resources online for Objective-C though, so learning may be easier. So find yourself a good guide to Obj-C or Swift - don't worry too much about whether it's aimed at iOS or OS X. Maybe try:

https://www.raywenderlich.com/category/os-x

What is different between the two is whether you're dealing with Cocoa or Cocoa Touch, which is the UI framework used by OS X and iOS respectively. So don't waste too much time on learning Cocoa Touch if you know for a fact you'll only be doing OS X work, and vice versa.

You might find some of the guides here helpful:

https://www.bignerdranch.com/we-write/

Also, the official docs here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/navigation/


Best of luck!

r.



* Although you can create apps in all sorts of other languages (Python, AppleScript etc), personally I'd stick with Swift or Obj-C unless there's a really compelling reason not to.

 

[ciaoben]

Hi,

Firstly, if you code in Swift and/or Objective-C then what you learn for iOS will remain true for OS X. Some will argue that Swift is the language of the future and they may be right. You'll find more resources online for Objective-C though, so learning may be easier. So find yourself a good guide to Obj-C or Swift - don't worry too much about whether it's aimed at iOS or OS X. Maybe try:

https://www.raywenderlich.com/category/os-x

What is different between the two is whether you're dealing with Cocoa or Cocoa Touch, which is the UI framework used by OS X and iOS respectively. So don't waste too much time on learning Cocoa Touch if you know for a fact you'll only be doing OS X work, and vice versa.

You might find some of the guides here helpful:

https://www.bignerdranch.com/we-write/

Also, the official docs here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/navigation/


Best of luck!

r.



* Although you can create apps in all sorts of other languages (Python, AppleScript etc), personally I'd stick with Swift or Obj-C unless there's a really compelling reason not to.

Thanks you've been very clear.

I think I will learn swift, I have experience as a developer with other languages, so I know how to move between resources, even if don't use the exact same language.

 

[briloronmacrumo]

I find a lot of courses and books about iOS programming, but I am struggling to find something useful for mac.

These tutorial screencasts( link here: screencasts ) tend to focus on Objective-C but some of the more recent ones are Swift. The first focus is Cocoa ( i.e. AppKit + Foundation ) which is applicable ( the iOS UI stuff is slightly different but the Foundation methods are almost identical ) to both OS X and iOS. He also has a series on Objective-C the language. He covers Foundation quite well. Hope that helps a little. Ditto superscape's comments.

 

[ciaoben]

These tutorial screencasts( link here: screencasts ) tend to focus on Objective-C but some of the more recent ones are Swift. The first focus is Cocoa ( i.e. AppKit + Foundation ) which is applicable ( the iOS UI stuff is slightly different but the Foundation methods are almost identical ) to both OS X and iOS. He also has a series on Objective-C the language. He covers Foundation quite well. Hope that helps a little. Ditto superscape's comments.

Thanks. great resources!

I have started with raywenderlich's site, and it is great!

 

[Starfia]

ciaoben,

Apple's own documentation is very good – if you haven't, I would strongly suggest starting with that, and then turning to tutorials and other guides when you hit hurdles.

 

[ciaoben]

ciaoben,

Apple's own documentation is very good – if you haven't, I would strongly suggest starting with that, and then turning to tutorials and other guides when you hit hurdles.

I find apple doc to be complete as references, but can't find samples or path to follow for starting

 

[superscape]

can't find samples or path to follow for starting

I think that's a good point, and something I struggled with at first too. There's not an obvious "start here" point for developers. Or perhaps there are too many possible start points (Swift, ObjC, Python, AppleScript, Bash, Cocoa, Cocoa Touch, Core Data/Graphics/Animation) and murphy's law dictates whichever you choose, you'll be wrong. It can be bewildering. My only advice would be to jump in and pick one and expect to have to learn at least some of the others at some point. Most important thing is to do the jumping in though!

 

[Starfia]

Not this?

https://developer.apple.com/library...x.html?utm_source=statuscode&utm_medium=email

(Oh, I see – this one is iOS-specific. Though it might be worth looking at anyway; Swift and many of its libraries are parodied well between iOS and OS X. And there may be a similar thing for OS X lurking somewhere.)

 

[ciaoben]

Thanks to both.
Nice suggestions!

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

I had some good luck learning Xcode and a bit of swift with udemy iOS 9 course by Rob P. The instruction was great, easy, however pretty tasty, you will rewind quite a bit. I recommend to get a good understanding and build from that base.

I'm sure YouTube has lots of helpful videos, and practice makes perfect!

Good luck!

 

[ciaoben]

I have started the Standford iOS9 course, I really love the style of teaching and I thinks it touches a lot of different kind of apps so It is really good for having an overview of the ecosystem