Cocoa in a Nutshell

by James Duncan Davidson and Michael Beam

Book Overview

Cocoa(R) is more than just a collection of classes, and is certainly more than a simple framework. Cocoa is a complete API set, class library, framework, and development environment for building applications and tools to run on Mac OS(R) X. With over 240 classes, Cocoa is divided into two essential frameworks: Foundation and Application Kit. Above all else, Cocoa is a toolkit for creating Mac OS X application interfaces, and it provides access to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596004621
• ISBN13: 9780596004620
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 566 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent (albeit a bit dated) reference manual

This is pretty much a must have reference book if you're programming in Cocoa. The only drawback is that a lot of the new APIs like Core Animation and Core Data are not covered. The last edition dates from 2003 and could use a Leopard update. That aside, this book is virtually indispensable for Cocoa devs who've made it past the beginner hump. If the authors read this review, please put out a Leopard update and I promise to buy 2 copies to help make it worth your while!

A Great Purchase

One of the best books a Cocoa programmer can buy! It references most of the Cocoa API and Objective-C, as well as providing a few good examples. I find it indispensable.

A Good Reference -- Not a Tutorial!!!

This book may be recommended by Apple Computer as reading for programmers aspiring to be OS X Cocoa programmers, but these "In a Nutshell..." books from O'Reiley are like the dictionary. They are good references, but not good to learn from. A much better starting place to learn Cocoa programming -- the best OS X technology for new Mac-OSX only software -- is the book "Learning Cocoa with Objective-C'. This book is also on Apple's recommended reading list for programmers aspiring to master Cocoa. The ISBN number of "Learning Cocoa..." is: 0-596-00301-3. I plan to continue my study of Cocoa with "Programming in Objective-C:A Complete Introduction to the Objective-C language". I feel that I need this book even though I know C and C++. Objective-C is quite a bit different. ISBN 0-672-32586-1 Then, I plan to read: "Cocoa Programming" ISBN 0-67232230-7. That brings me back to the book that I started with. "Cocoa in a Nutshell". Then, I'd be ready for a reference book, and I would also use Apple's web reference, and on-disk reference materials that are on your hard disk when you install Apple's free development tools.