Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies [Kindle Edition]

Erick Tejkowski (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Cocoa programming is not only the favored development environment for Mac OS X, it’s also a primary tool for creating iPhone and iPod Touch software. That makes this a great time to learn Cocoa, and Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies is the ideal place to start!

This book gives you a solid foundation in Cocoa and the unusual syntax of Objective-C. You’ll learn what’s new in Cocoa frameworks and create an application step by step. For example, you can:

• See how Xcode underlies your applications as the main component of Apple’s IDE
• Examine the basics of the Objective-C language, the elements of a Cocoa interface, and object-oriented programming
• Use Xcode and Interface Builder
• Spruce up your apps with audio, video, Internet features, stylized text, and more
• Create applications with the stunning graphics for which Macs are famous
• See how to build apps with multiple documents and even executables that aren’t traditional Mac apps
• Use all the exciting new Cocoa features
• Work with Cocoa numbers, arrays, Booleans, and dates
• Build document-based applications
• Simplify with key-value coding

The better you understand Cocoa programming, the better the applications you can create for Mac OS X, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies makes it easy and fun!

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Note: The Kindle edition of this book does not include any CDs or DVDs.

From the Back Cover

Cocoa is hot! Stir up apps for Mac OS X, iPhone, and iPod Touch

It's a great time to go for Cocoa, because it's not only Apple's preferred framework for developing software, it's also the best way for you to create software for Mac OS X and iPhone. This book gives you a solid foundation in Cocoa and the unusual syntax of Objective-C. You'll learn what's new in Cocoa frameworks and create applications step by step.

• X marks the start — see how Xcode underlies your applications as the main component of Apple's Developer Tools

• Be objective — examine the basics of the Objective-C language and the elements of a Cocoa interface

• Add bells and whistles — spruce up your apps with audio, video, Internet features, stylized text, and more

• Graphically speaking — create applications with the stunning graphics for which Macs are famous

• High-end Cocoa — see how to build apps with multiple documents or even have Xcode build an interface for you

Open the book and find:

• Tips for building a good interface

• How to work with Cocoa numbers, arrays, Booleans, and dates

• Advice on managing files

• Ten tips for easier Cocoa programming

• How to simplify with key-value coding

• What to do with Cocoa on the Internet

• How to add bindings to your application

• Steps for building document-based applications

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 9683 KB
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (March 9, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00245A4NM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,224 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #16 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Cocoa
  • #54 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > MacOS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The One I Have Been Looking For - 2nd Revision, February 22, 2009

By 

Ralph S. Miller "RSM" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies (Paperback)

(3rd review update 8-9-2011) This book shows the route to simple working graphic Cocoa applications in the first 40 pages. I purchased it on 2-21-2009. My opinion has changed as I have used it. Initially 5-Stars. Later 3-Stars. Now I believe 4-Stars is a fair rating. There are some improvements that I wish the author would make and an errata would be helpful. Sometimes an example will not work. An example is on Page 31 where there is no instruction to "Save" at mid-page after several text entries in the example. The "Save" instruction needs to be there or the example will not work when you get toward the end of the example around page 50.

However, you can download the working example online and proceed to the next chapter to build on that example from the preceding chapter. There are many simple and clear examples throughout the book. Studying several other Objective-C and Cocoa books have had confusing text and examples at times. I come back to this one often to see a clearer approach.

I recommend you obtain this book along with any other on the same subject. It is not expensive and it has a wealth of clear examples.

FedEx Office will spiral bind the book split into two halves between Part II and Part III for a few dollars. Each half is easy to carry, open to read or lay flat for reference while computing.

I am a retired engineer and have written programs for myself occasionally for many years, but do not consider myself a computer programmer. A half dozen are C programs, some extensive, that ran CNC machinery. They are entirely text. My goal is to convert them to graphics for Mac OS X computers. RSM

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Leaves too many unexplained concepts, wasn't proof-read before publishing., August 14, 2009

By 

A. Koury (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies (Paperback)

You don't release a programming book where some of the step-by-step coding instructions don't match the illustrations, some steps are missing, and the code examples don't compile or don't work as advertised. Also, you don't tell your readers that there will be a website with code examples and then give them a bad URL. When your readers finally find the code downloads in the mess that is the [...] site, that code should actually match what's described in the book. And when your book is riddled with errors, you should at least provide an online errata page. In short, YOU DON'T RELEASE A BOOK THAT HASN'T BEEN PROOF-READ!

Besides the annoyance of the book essentially being in alpha, it misses or glosses over many concepts. So, for example, you don't ever learn exactly what the 'sender' keyword does in the language, or why there are random instances of C-style method calls - object.method() instead of [object method] - and other similar oversights. It's not a big deal to figure these things out by yourself with a couple of minutes on the internet, but when you're reading through the book it really feels like important information has been left out. I found myself asking "wait, why'd he do that?" a little too often.

I can't bring myself to give this book a one-star review because it does have great potential. The projects (when they work) really are great as teaching tools, the presentation is clear and easy to understand, etc. I'd give it four stars if it had been proof-read, or if at least an online errata had been provided. Five stars if it had been just a little more thorough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware, the book is outdated, December 10, 2009

By 

HD Rider "HD Rider" (McKinney, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X For Dummies (Paperback)

I got my new Mac Pro with Snow Leopard installed in September with the idea of beginning programming for my new Mac. I am no rookie, having programmed in C3#.Net for the Windows environment. Since I have had a lot of good experiences with the DUMMIES series in the past, I purchased this book thinking it would help. But some of the initial parts of the book made no sense to me and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I discovered that the book was using Xcode 3.1 and Snow Leopard was released with Xcode 3.2. The menus were changed and the the program steps no longer worked or applied. I wrote to the Dummies people on their website to complain, but never heard a word. The book is now useless to me and I have had to purchase other books. I feel ripped off. But I guess I will just eat this paperwweight and move on. Anyone want to buy an outdated book?