OS X programming

There is always Apple's XCode to use as a programming tool. If you go with Java there is Eclipse (i think thats the name of the popular Java programming tool), or jGRASP which I prefer. The premiere coding language for OSX is Objective C.

 

I wouldn't recommend XCode since it is much too complicated for a beginner and completely unnecessary. I would recommend beginning with C++ or Java using just a text editor (SubEthaEdit with syntax highlighting is good) and a compiler from Developer Tools.

I like Java better than C++ but since Apple is going with Objective-C with OS X, some varient of C might be the best to learn if you're going to be programming primarily for Mac.

 

You haven't said what your experience is, but starting with PHP or a scripting language might be good for you. You can do a lot in PHP, and it's cross-platform. The O'Reilly book 'Programming PHP' contains a lot of really good beginner's information, even explaining the object-orientated model.

There's also AppleScript, which can be a real time-saver if you get into it. It's not really programming, rather scripting, but a lot of the concepts are the same. That said, I'd still advise the Programming PHP book as an introduction, because it's really hard to find a 'real programming' book which will explain the basics well.

Using PHP or AppleScript you'll get results much quicker, that's for sure.

 

I enjoy playing around with METAL. It's fairly easy I think...

 

PHP is a nice start

PHP is not much use for programming Mac apps, but its a good skillset to start making the odd dollar from coding, plus its a C derived language so the syntax is similar to Java/Objective C/C/C++ for coding Mac apps and its quite similar to C# in case you want to move across to <blasphemy>.NET</blasphemy>

 

oh psshhhh
C# isnt that great of a first language to start with.
C is nice but a little challenging, great intro if you're planning on learning Obj-C though.

 

METAL is a dialect of BASIC. If you are going to program in BASIC, then you might want to try REALbasic. REALbasic allows you to port M$ VisualBASIC applications to the Mac. It allows you to develop applications for MacOS 9, MacOS X, Windows, and Java. If you want to develop applications in BASIC, then you might also try FutureBASIC, a most mature environment which goes back more than a decade when it was known as Z-BASIC.