macOS Convert to iMac needs suggestions

[PickyBiker]

I am a long time Windows PC guy with fair vb.net programming skills and some c++ skills. 6 weeks ago I bought my 1st iMac and am interested in converting/rewriting some of my programs to work on the iMac.
My first look at mac programming turned up a lot of ways to go from xcode/objective C, xcode/swift, Xamarin, Cocoa and some others. I also see there is a version of MS Visual Studio for the mac.

The programs I write are small and simplistic, one example is a control system for my network connected sprinkler system. Another is a coil winder interface to an Arduino powered winding machine.

The first thing I tried was Xcode 9 with objective C and Cocoa. I don't mind saying I felt completely out of the water. The IDE and what needed to be done to connect the UI to the code seems to be complicated and tedious (at least trying to use the book "Mac Programming for Absolute Beginners").

I need some suggestions on what might be the most comfortable toolset to help me transition to simple mac programming. I will likely never write DB or web type apps.

Here is the VB.net sprinkler system interface as an example of what my programs are like.

 

[Mark FX]

programming with Xcode on Mac as a seasoned Windows user can be a steep learning curve, I know that from personal experience, although that was many years ago, and I'm now very comfortable with Xcode and Apple's native programming and scripting languages.

So if Xcode and Objective-C is not your thing, you could take a look at Visual Studio Code, which is a cross platform code editor from Microsoft, which supports many languages, including Microsoft and Apple native languages, along with many of the popular scripting and Web languages.

https://code.visualstudio.com

If you have any experience of Visual Basic on Windows, then Xojo is worth a look, as it's syntax is very VB like.
Again it's cross platform, and also compiles code for cross platform.

https://www.xojo.com

I you want to keep it really simple, then Apple's AppleScript is an easier learning curve than Objective-C, but not as powerful, although you can access the Cocoa Frameworks with it, and I have created many powerful GUI apps with it.
Although it's long term future is in doubt.

Regards Mark

 

[PickyBiker]

Thank for the information Mark.

I installed Visual Studio for Mac and found a book called "Beginning Visual Studio for Mac" by Alessandro Del Sole. I'm midway through chapter 2. This feels like home to me and is much more familiar than Xcode (nothing against Xcode, I just grew up with VS). As a Windows convert, this is absolutely the way for me to go and C# is familiar too because of my C/C++ experience.

Your suggestion on xojo is interesting because I actually have more VB.net experience than VC++ so I will check that out too.

Thank you for the references.

Very best regards,

Mike