macOS Mac OS X development using C++

[kainjow]

Now, does anybody here actually have experience writing Mac OS X apps the way outlined --- using straight C++ for the core parts and Objective-C/Cocoa to implement the user-interface --- or is this just the way you would go if you were in my situation?

I've done it with a Tetris game a few years back. Wrote the entire GUI and logic of the app using C++ (it was OpenGL) and then provided a Cocoa and Win32 wrapper. Even had audio working using the C QuickTime functions.

Anyone ever used CFLite, Apple's open-source version of CoreFoundation? I think it'd be neat to use that in a cross-platform app, since it would make integration with Cocoa a breeze. But I wonder what kind of annoyances you'd have working with it under Windows.

 

[MichaelS]

Mozilla doesn't use the standard Cocoa UI development model. They took a much harder approach to cross-platform UI, by developing their own toolkit that works across supported platforms. It's also why Mozilla projects don't usually look quite exactly like a normal Mac application.

I actually think Mozilla uses Carbon, not Cocoa. Anyway, like I said before, I want my app to look exactly like a Mac OS X app is supposed to look like, so I suppose I won't use that library. Still, I think I'll try this book when it's released, as you suggest.

I've done it with a Tetris game a few years back. Wrote the entire GUI and logic of the app using C++ (it was OpenGL) and then provided a Cocoa and Win32 wrapper. Even had audio working using the C QuickTime functions.

Good! So someone's done this before, which is reassuring.

Might I suggest Trolltech's Qt for Mac?

Thanks, I'm familiar with Qt, but don't really like their approach. Besides, I don't need a huge library. I suppose I will end up using less than 10 widgets in my application.

If you decide to go with ObjC and/or Cocoa, the two books you mentioned, "Programming in Objective-C" by Stephen Kochan and "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" by Aaron Hillegass are IMO the way to go. They're both sort of the "standard" for new Cocoa programmers. Kochan's book in particular is one of the best technical books I've ever read.

Okay. I'll try Kochan's book first and see if I can get used to the Objective-C way of doing things.

But I have recently stumbled upon a little chapter from hevean in the C++ Book for Dummies that addresses your problem down to a word. I would definately pick it up.

I searched for this book, but couldn't find it. Does a "... for dummies" text really cover stuff like this? Also, exactly which of my questions does this book address?

 

[unknown.exe]

I searched for this book, but couldn't find it. Does a "... for dummies" text really cover stuff like this? Also, exactly which of my questions does this book address?

Yes, it's how I learned C+ before I got into an honors C++ class. When I got there, I was WAYYYY ahead of the rest after only reading a few chapters. You asked earlier if anyone knew how to wrap C++ w/ carbon, and look it up on amazon.com There is a small chapter that talks about wrappers and gives you sources... try it out.

 

[MichaelS]

You asked earlier if anyone knew how to wrap C++ w/ carbon, and look it up on amazon.com There is a small chapter that talks about wrappers and gives you sources... try it out.

Okay, that indeed means it's worth checking out. I already tried to look it up on Amazon but couldn't find it. Can you please tell me the full name of the author and the exact title of the book?

 

[PanzerFaustNL]

Three years later, I am curious what the results are.

 

[chirgeo]

C++ wrapper for OSX

Have you heard of the WXWINDOWS project?
It offers C++ wrappers for application development that also work under OSX.

http://www.wxwidgets.org

 

[gnasher729]

Three years later, I am curious what the results are.

Have you heard of the WXWINDOWS project?
It offers C++ wrappers for application development that also work under OSX.

http://www.wxwidgets.org

Answering both: Not much has changed, except that Carbon is definitely on the way out; all Macs built in the last 3 1/2 years have 64 bit processors and Carbon cannot run in 64 bit mode. And wxwidgets seems to use Carbon and therefore is 32 bit only, at least that's what their Snow Leopard release notes say. So it is much more important now than three years ago to use Objective-C for the user interface. And at times it is really handy compared to C++.