Should I Sign Up to Mac Developer Program Now?

I think he means the developer's website/forum etc...

You can get basic videos/materials off the developer's site without being a developer ($99)...

I, myself will become a developer but not now. I'm still learning the basics so I'll wait.

ps. Don't you need a business account to become a developer? Like the money your app would generate would go to a business bank account?

 

You don't need any special business account; any bank account is fine. There isn't really anything special about the apple developer forums (in my opinion), I think the main thing is being able to test with a device.

Signing up for the developer account while developing as opposed to after completion of your app is a personal preference.

If you get it now you will start using up the 1 year membership. You won't be able to test your app on a device however, only on the simulator. Depending on your app this may be fine, but some things are untestable without using a device.

My first app was a game and I only purchased the developer account when it was "complete". On the simulator i was used to the app starting in one second, however on the device it took 30 seconds to load and performance during use was unacceptable.

It's quite possible to develop an app with only testing on the simulator, but you will never be sure that it works exactly the same on a device.

 

Most of what you need to develop Apps for MacIntosh you can get for $5 from the AppStore. (Xcode is US$4.99)

The help/documentation is pretty excellent.

If you're already in the iOS developer program, and I'm guessing there is a good chance you are, since you're posting in this forum, then you already have everything you need. The documentation covers Mac programming as well.

If you pay $99 for the Mac program you'll get:
- The ability to (also) sell your software in the Mac App Store in addition to however you sold it before.
- Beta's and Release Candidates of OS X Lion
- Access to a private message board (much of which is duplicated in public boards or in places like Stack Overflow.)
- Technical Support (One event if I'm not mistaken...)

Honestly, once you have Xcode (from your iOS dev program or for $5 from the App Store), spend some time writing your application before shelling out the $99.

 

I joined a few months ago, and just paid my $99 yesterday. I noticed I was not allowed to post on their forums and I thought there was more resources open to paid members.

But mostly I wanted to play with the apps on the device itself to get a feel for how it works. I have a few app idea that will require testing on device only.

 

For questions about iPhone beta's and stuff in which DTS just might be interested, log in to:
https://devforums.apple.com/community/iphone

For general iPhone programming questions, try searching on:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/iphone

 

From the discussion i understand that a person who is starting to learn programming is not advisable to join hte program.

Later when the confidence levels increase and he is starting up to build programs, he can join and utilize the resources

 

You could use GameSalad to make certain types of Mac Apps... like games!
The programming language is English and Math.