Cocoa Programming for Dummies

Summary

Mac OS X comes with an array of tools that make Macintosh programming easier and more accessible than ever before – and Cocoa is the hottest of these. Object oriented, featuring powerful frameworks and cool visual interface design capabilities, Cocoa provides you with programming skills you only could dream of a few years ago. With it, you can quickly create sophisticated applications for Mac OS X, complete with beautiful Aqua interfaces and advanced functionality. But getting started with Cocoa can be tricky, and you’re going to need all the expert, hands-on advice and guidance you can get. That’s where this book comes in.

Cocoa Programming For Dummies is your complete guide to mastering that powerful Mac development tool. Full of fast and easy projects for designing, developing, and deploying rich new applications with Cocoa, it gets you up and running, in no time, with what you need to:

• Master the Cocoa API
• Get the most out of AppKit Framework and Found ation
• Get a handle on Objective-C programming
• Use advanced graphics features
• Program file management features
• Develop Web-friendly applications
• Create hot multimedia effects
• Build a movie player

Cocoa Programming For Dummies lets you explore Cocoa programming by doing it. Each chapter guides you through the process of creating at least one simple application illustrating the features covered in it. Erick Tejkowski walks you through:

• Six simple steps to creating Cocoa applications
• Project Builder, Interface Builder, FileMerge, IconComposer, PackageMaker and other utilities
• Programming in Objective-C
• Manipulating, editing and saving text, and changing text styles
• Using graphics, managing files, and printing with Cocoa
• Interacting with the Web and sending e-mail from a Cocoa application
• Loading and playing sound files and building an audio player
• Watching movies with Cocoa
• Building document-based applications using AppleScript

The easy way to start cooking up hot new Macintosh applications with Cocoa, Cocoa Programming For Dummies puts you in control of all of Mac OS X’s awesome object-oriented programming capabilities.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Part I: Developer Tools.

Chapter 1: A Brief Tour of Cocoa Development.

Chapter 2: Creating Your First Cocoa Application.

Chapter 3: Project Builder.

Chapter 4: Interface Builder.

Chapter 5: More Utilities for Cocoa Development.

Part II: Instant Cocoa and the Objective-C Language.

Chapter 6: Cocoa’s Flavor of Object-Oriented Programming.

Chapter 7: The Basics of Objective-C.

Chapter 8: A Window with a View.

Chapter 9: Working with Interface Controls.

Chapter 10: Cocoa Data Types.

Part III: Putting It All Together: Cocoa Programming in Depth.

Chapter 11: Text.

Chapter 12: Graphics.

Chapter 13: Managing Your Files.

Chapter 14: Printing with Cocoa.

Chapter 15: Cocoa on the Internet.

Chapter 16: Multimedia.

Part IV: Advanced Cocoa Topics.

Chapter 17: Document-Based Applications.

Chapter 18: Cocoa and the Command Line.

Chapter 19: Cocoa and AppleScript.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 20: Ten Tips to Make Cocoa Programming Easier.

Chapter 21: Ten Great Web Sites for Cocoa Developers.

Appendix: Installing Mac OS X Developer Tools.

Index.