General Mac software discussions forum: I want to learn how to develop Mac apps.

http://developer.apple.com/tools/

"Mac OS X provides you with a full suite of free developer tools to prototype, compile, debug, and optimize your applications, speeding up your development cycle."

Go get em.

Bob

I take it that you didn't follow the link or your needs are not being met by the tools that are free?

Bob

You only need to keep at it. Start with the usual 'Hello world' and keep going.

Or maybe you wanted a non-programming language or system?

Bob

This small space is not appropriate to hold classes in programming. The initial request has been satisfied with Apple providing free tools and documentation. It is up to you to read the documentation and take programming courses if need be.

Bob

My first code was for a GE-210 computer way back when. It took me about 2 months to learn enough about the machine and it's language to write my first program. Today many people want instant results without the usual investment of time.

The language of that day was assembler and it was great since it formed some deep understanding of what was going on inside the beast. The next year I took a class in Fortran IV and PL/1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLI PL 1 never paid off but learning Fortran helped since it was a 'root' language for many other languages to come.

Today I have projects the use C, Visual Basic, SQL, HTML and of course assembler.

Hope this gives you an idea what's involved and by all means stick with it.

About HELLO WORLD. It's the basic code that gets you your first sign of life from your selected language. More reading at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_world_program

A list of 300 versions of Hello World is noted but 99 bottles of beer has a bigger following with 1089 language versions at http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/

Bob

Wow. You programmers are really the problem here. This guy is just asking for a little direction, not about your personal feelings on how to learn.

OK, so I know this is really late, but this is for those people who see this post from afterward.

The Apple documentation is great, but only if you know C. Which it says in the disclaimer right at the top of the page on Obj-C.

The preferred language for OSX is Objective-C

Objective-C is an 'extension' to C, regarded as the most versatile language out there. Start with C programming.

Here's some resources for C, Obj-C, and learning to program for the Mac.

http://www.cprogramming.com/
http://cocoadevcentral.com/
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/reference/CocoaArticles
http://www.cocoalab.com/
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cocoa_Programming/First_steps

There are many more but this will get people started.

Hi Alex. What progress have you made so far?

We love our Macs and the software we use on them. So, we decided it would be neat to make a post and share some of our favorite development applications, software and tools. I know youre wondering, Why 7? Well, we had to draw the line somewhere And 10 just seemed so boring.
Coda
Text editor + file transfer + svn + CSS + Terminal + Books + More = Whoah.

SEEdit Maxi II
Since 2004, SEEdit - THE XHTML EDITOR FOR MACINTOSH has helped professionals and hobbyists worldwide developing clean and valid XHTML/CSS sites on Macintosh.

ScriptLight
Manage all of your Applescript Script, Applescript Text, Applescript Applications, Unix Shell Scripts, C, Objective-C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, Verilog, VHDL, Tcl/Tk, Lua, and R code files

BitRock InstallBuilder
Turns application packaging and deployment into a fast, easy and cost-effective process for developers.

Serna XML Editor
Serna Enterprise is a powerful and easy-to-use XML editor which requires virtually no technical experience from authors.

ModelBaker
The easy way to create mobile and browser-based web applications.

Adobe AIR
Leverage existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

Message was edited by: admin to remove Web link signature which is prohibited in these forums. Note to member, please use your CNET profile if you'd like to include a link to your Website. Thanks!

HELLO:

Open iTunes and near the top right is a TAB titled "iTunes U". Click that and the find in the upper right teh "University and Colleges" LINK and click that.

This will open a large list of Universities and Colleges who have FREE learning modules that you can view on-line. You may be able to search for exactly the language you want to learn, I don't know for sure.

But, here's a starter. Go down to the "R" section and Select the Rock Valley College. There is a course on that list that is titled - I think - Beginning Visual Basic - Course No. 180. Sit back, listen, and then go hack away!!

You MAY even find some basic learning modules for X-Code apps, etc.