I'd like recommendations on Mac OS X programming books

changomarcelo

changomarcelo

Friend of the elves
I live in Argentina where is hard to find Mac OS X programming books, so I want to buy some at Amazon and have them sent.
My OS X programming skills are very limited. I am a .NET programmer, but I'd like to start programming for Mac OS X. That's why I'dlike some recomendations on what books I can buy to start on this.
I must confess I like the O'Reilly books about Cocoa, but I have also seen other publishers with interesting books. I think I will buy three or four books at once.
Also, I have noticed that most of the Mac OS X books are about Cocoa with Objective C, but I know that I can also choose Java as a programming language, but I found no books about it. If I can't find any Cocoa-Java book, I think I should learn Objective C.
Well, I hope you can help me, thank you!!!
 
The Oreily books are good when it comes to learning Cocoa and Objective-C. Sadly there isn't much data on using Cocoa in Java apart from the docs that Apple ships. Personally, I don't bother with the Java-Cocoa bridge since that makes Java lose all crossplatform capability which is the main reason for programming in Java in the first place.
 
One of the best Cocoa books out there (and sitting on my desk right now) is Cocoa® Programming for Mac® OS X by Aaron Hillegass. This guy knows Cocoa so well, he taught the engineers at Apple how to use it.

I also have the book Programming in Objective-C from the Developer's Network, which is a great way to learn to program in Objective-C, especially if you already know another language.

You can find both on Amazon.
 
Well, have you read the user reviews of the various books on Amazon? There are a number of lists of books that people think you should get.
 
changomarcelo said:
I think I should learn Objective C.
Well, I hope you can help me, thank you!!!
Click to expand...

If you want to learn Objective-C, pick up "Programming in Objective-C" by Stephen G. Kochan. It'll teach you the language, then moves you on to Foundation classes. Most of the Cocoa books will just concentrate on the GUI so as soon as you reach the first the first or second tutorial you feel as if you'r e watching the last 15 minutes of a movie while trying to figure out what the first hour and 45 minutes were about.
 
Various magazines actually have short step-by-step articles on what to do. That could be a starting point. Never tried them though.

If you want to change existing applications I read the "Modding OSX" (O'reilly) or some title along those lines. Its a talkative and quite detailed book about changes you can do to OSX and has a section on modding applications.

If you are new to Mac programming this could provide valuable insight.
 
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