Cocoa Programming For Dummies [Paperback]

Erick Tejkowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2003 | Series: For Dummies (Computers)

Mac OS X comes with an array of tools that make Macintosh programming easier and more accessible than ever before – and Cocoa is the hottest of these. Object oriented, featuring powerful frameworks and cool visual interface design capabilities, Cocoa provides you with programming skills you only could dream of a few years ago. With it, you can quickly create sophisticated applications for Mac OS X, complete with beautiful Aqua interfaces and advanced functionality. But getting started with Cocoa can be tricky, and you’re going to need all the expert, hands-on advice and guidance you can get. That’s where this book comes in.

Cocoa Programming For Dummies is your complete guide to mastering that powerful Mac development tool. Full of fast and easy projects for designing, developing, and deploying rich new applications with Cocoa, it gets you up and running, in no time, with what you need to:

• Master the Cocoa API
• Get the most out of AppKit Framework and Found ation
• Get a handle on Objective-C programming
• Use advanced graphics features
• Program file management features
• Develop Web-friendly applications
• Create hot multimedia effects
• Build a movie player

Cocoa Programming For Dummies lets you explore Cocoa programming by doing it. Each chapter guides you through the process of creating at least one simple application illustrating the features covered in it. Erick Tejkowski walks you through:

• Six simple steps to creating Cocoa applications
• Project Builder, Interface Builder, FileMerge, IconComposer, PackageMaker and other utilities
• Programming in Objective-C
• Manipulating, editing and saving text, and changing text styles
• Using graphics, managing files, and printing with Cocoa
• Interacting with the Web and sending e-mail from a Cocoa application
• Loading and playing sound files and building an audio player
• Watching movies with Cocoa
• Building document-based applications using AppleScript

The easy way to start cooking up hot new Macintosh applications with Cocoa, Cocoa Programming For Dummies puts you in control of all of Mac OS X’s awesome object-oriented programming capabilities.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Start using Apple’s Developer Tools the fun and easy way^TM

Your guide to building hot Cocoa applications with object-oriented programming

Want to try a little Cocoa but don’t know where to start? Here’s the book you need, full of fast and easy projects for designing, developing, and deploying rich new applications using the Cocoa APIs and Objective-C programming. Soon you’ll be serving up programs flavored with file management features, multimedia effects, stylized text, and much more!

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

About the Author

Erick Tejkowski is a college instructor and author of REALbasic For Dummies. He also serves as a writer and contributing editor for MacTech and RB Developer magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (March 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764526138
• ISBN-13: 978-0764526138
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Cocoa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thirty Bucks (list price) for weak authorship, weak editing, December 9, 2003

By 

D. Stein (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cocoa Programming For Dummies (Paperback)

I must echo decker's complaint about the editing, which really is horrendous.

But my criticism of the book is deeper still. On pp. 55 - 56 in discussing the use of number formatting for output in the interface, the text describes the "bug" as resulting when "the count of digits in the decimal protion doesn't match between the two numbers". This is a material misstatement, and neglects any attempt to explain the real cause of the problem that the formatting is intended to solve: The inexact representation of (most) decimal fractions in machine representation. Yes, this is an advanced programming topic - and may not be of interest to beginning programmers; but there is no excuse for giving an incorrect explanation instead. Why does this book waste pages and pages on repetitive explanations, yet remain incapable of providing a sentence or two on one of the most fundamental facts for computer programmers. This insults the intelligence of even a beginner.

Chapter 6 (for example) contains repetitions of very basic material introduced in Chapters 3 and 4, some it word-for-word duplication of passages on outlets and actions and their connections in Interface Builder (pp.117-128). Where was the editor during the production of this material? This whole repetition seems to be for the benefit of introducing the Objective-C keyword "id".

Later, on p. 121, the author misses a golden opportunity to introduce the reader to the benefits of Cocoa's naming conventions for accessor functions in classes. The method that returns the value of an instance variable can (and should!) have the same name as the instance variable. Many advanced features of Cocoa (especially in Panther and Xcode) become much more usable if one follows this convention. It couldn't have taken more than a page or two to introduce the subject, yet the book repeats itself annoyingly on several other topics. One suspects neither author, editor, nor reviewer knows anything about many important Cocoa topics. What a waste!

Then, further, the inclusion of some material seems inappropriate for this introductory level. For example, why waste several pages digressing on the use of the File Merge utility. No beginning programmer needs to worry about this, and there are far less risky ways of modifying the interface after files for it have been created.

"Cocoa Programming for Dummies" finds its way to the top of my list of "Worst Programming Books Ever Published." I felt after finishing it that the reader would know EXACTLY as much as the author about Cocoa programming - no more, and no less. In other words, Tejkowski "holds nothing back"; he's told us EVERYTHING he knows about Cocoa programming. Perhaps I should be more sympathetic: Why did the acquisitions staff for the Dummies series rope a RealBasic programmer into writing a Cocoa book? Couldn't they find someone more qualified? The Dummies series generally handles its material in a light-hearted and clever fashion; how did it sink so low in this fiasco?

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Needs updated and edited, April 23, 2004

By 

Bruce Carter "Omnireader" (South Bend, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cocoa Programming For Dummies (Paperback)

The number of errors in the code and processes in the book make it very frustrating for beginners. I think with a good rewrite and update for Xcode, and more careful editing (some errors were obviously a result of the production process, missing lines of code that were included in the online extras files, missing steps in development instructions, and such) this would be a useful beginner's book.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad...but the editor should be shot, March 22, 2003

By 

"wdecker99" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cocoa Programming For Dummies (Paperback)

A decent introduction - but it starts off assuming you already know C (like most intro to Cocoa books -- When will someone write a learning to program with Obj-C/Cocoa for beginners new to programming?).

The book could use more detail in describing why you do certain things in Obj-C/Cocoa instead of just saying do it this way.

But the worst part is the huge number of errors and inaccuracies in the book. Every chapter contains multiple errors - usually with missing steps or method names changing between steps or being differnent in the pictures. The editing is HORRIBLE. This really should be .5 Edition - it really is too error ridden to be a 1st edition.

If you are looking for a book to get you up to speed on Project Builder and Interface Builder (based on the Dec. 2002 Developer Tools) then it is a decent introduction. But don't expect this to get you started in programming for OS X if you don't have any real programming experience. And the constant errors in editing are pretty bad; you have to keep on your toes to make sure you account for them or sometimes the examples won't work.

Finally, to the cocoa book writing community in general -- please address the market for new programmers who want to learn to program in Obj. C/Cocoa and who do not have any extensive (or any at all) programming experience in C.