Internationalization Cookbook
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer.

Starting Mac Programming – Chapter one

Decisions and acquisitions

Step one: buying the Mac. Which one?

Well, the Mini looks nice enough, I have a multi-input LCD monitor, so I don’t see why should I pay for another one. And if I am not happy with it, it looks good enough for the TV room. I can put Linux on it and convert it to a Home Media Center :-)
After 15 minutes at the Mall I have managed to grab one of the last Mini(s) with Max OS X 10.3 on it and with Tiger drop-on. This way I can try them both, if I feel like it.

Step two: more memory!

Same day, in the evening, I have ordered memory, and upgraded the toy to 1GB. Now we are talking. Nothing to write about, there are tones of web pages explaining how you do this.
Wifetalk: why did my new Solingen knife have to be bent in the process?

Step three: what compiler should I use?

Again, easy decision. CodeWarrior costs a bunch, and I can play with it at the office, where I have it on a G5. Xcode is free, I have it already, and the API is the same anyway, isn’t it? Now (several weeks later) I have an extra point for Xcode: Apple announced an Intel version, Metrowerks does not seem to plan a CodeWarrior for Mactel (ugly name, but it seems to be here to stay), so Xcode is the way to go. For once, I think I made a good decision :-) I cannot say the same about buying a PPC Mac weeks before Apple announced the move to Intel :-)

But hey, no problem. The API will be the same (it only changes from OS X 10.1 to 10.2 to 10.3 :-)

Step four: Carbon? Cocoa?

Again, I feel like this is another easy decision. I have to ask our Mac developers what are we using for our applications… Carbon… Ok, I can deal with it. In fact, I have always wondered why should one choose Cocoa? With Carbon you can still develop for Mac OS 9, and you can use C/C++. On the other side, who develops for Windows with Objective-C? So, if you want cross-platform, it is better to go with C/C++. What was Apple thinking? Well, maybe this is one of those stupid beginner questions. Will see how I feel about it in a couple of months :-)

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