Learning Cocoa with Objective-C is the "must-have" book for people who want to develop applications for Mac OS X, and is the only book approved and reviewed by Apple engineers. Based on the Jaguar release of Mac OS X 10.2, this edition of Learning Cocoa includes examples that use the Address Book and Universal Access APIs. Also included is a handy quick reference card, charting Cocoa's Foundation and AppKit frameworks, along with an Appendix that includes a listing of resources essential to any Cocoa developer--beginning or advanced. Completely revised and updated, this 2nd edition begins with some simple examples to familiarize you with the basic elements of Cocoa programming as well Apple's Developer Tools, including Project Builder and Interface Builder. After introducing you to Project Builder and Interface Builder, it brings you quickly up to speed on the concepts of object-oriented programming with Objective-C, the language of choice for building Cocoa applications. From there, each chapter presents a different sample program for you to build, with easy to follow, step-by-step instructions to teach you the fundamentals of Cocoa programming. The techniques you will learn in each chapter lay the foundation for more advanced techniques and concepts presented in later chapters. You'll learn how to:

• Effectively use Apple's suite of Developer Tools, including Project Builder and Interface Builder

• Build single- and multiple-window document-based applications

• Manipulate text data using Cocoa's text handling capabilities

• Draw with Cocoa

• Add scripting functionality to your applications

• Localize your application for multiple language support

• Polish off your application by adding an icon for use in the Dock, provide Help, and package your program for distribution

Each chapter ends with a series of Examples, challenging you to test your newly-learned skills by tweaking the application you've just built, or to go back to an earlier example and add to it some new functionality. Solutions are provided in the Appendix, but you're encouraged to learn by trying. Extensive programming experience is not required to complete the examples in the book, though experience with the C programming language will be helpful. If you are familiar with an object-oriented programming language such as Java or Smalltalk, you will rapidly come up to speed with the Objective-C language. Otherwise, basic object-oriented and language concepts are covered where needed.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

OK... - 2005-02-24
Reviewer Rating:
While this book is very detailed and has a lot of information in it about Cocoa programming, it starts off too quickly. You might be discouraged by the assumptions the author makes about how much C (and programming in general) you know. If you are experienced in computer programming, then you will find this book to be a blast and will learn objective -C in no time at all. However, if you aren't too good with programming, start off with some online tutorials or other books, as you will get lost after reading the first two chapters or so.

Low on details - 2008-01-05
Reviewer Rating:
If only Apple put as much effort in its books as it does in its iPods...

This text skips over all sorts of details regarding the Cocoa framework it purports to teach, while repeating many mundane details (like how to create a project) over and over. The authors focus mostly on Interface Builder. If that is what you need, though, I'd still recommend the Internet instead.

Quality, Apple reviewed literature. - 2007-12-28
Reviewer Rating:
As with most O'reilly books this one is not a let down. I was most impressed to find out that is actually written by Apple Computer and then was handed to James Duncan Davidson to make it flow.

It has a great explanation of Object Oriented programming as it pertains to Objective-C. Although if you are looking to get into OOP for the first time I would suggest a higher-level language such as Java (the syntax can get in the way of learning the concepts and ideas with Obj-C / C++).

The book is titled to cover upto MacOS 10.2. I am using Leopard (10.5) and the only differences (so far) are: the GUI screenshots in the book are, well, out of date; and the default naming conventions for Xcode files are different. Neither of these is a big issue though.

Its a Good book.

Great Start to Learn OS X Programming - 2005-07-02
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a great start to learn the best OS X programming technology. As a professional developer. The title says it "Learning Cocoa with Objective C". Avoid the book "Cocoa in a Nutshell" until you know Cocoa and Objective C and want a good refeerence.

I also plan to read: "Programming in Objective C" and "Cocoa Programming", but only after mastering the material in this book.

A book for Cocoa programmers - 2008-12-19
Reviewer Rating:
The book is an useful guide for who needs to learn Cocoa programming, and needs to learn also Objective-C.

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