sobiloff@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (Blake Sobiloff) (05/27/89)
Situation: I'm a student who has time this summer to learn some "real" Mac programming, and am wondering where to start. Details: I know how to program in Pascal and (yech) BASIC, but have never tried to do anything with the ToolBox, etc. I'd like to start developing some specialized programs and don't know where to start. C seems to be pretty standard for Mac programming; I rarely hear about people programming using Pascal. Should I switch to C? Also, I've read the new commandment from Apple: use OOP or die. Assuming that this is where I should direct my energies, do I go with Object Pascal (which is available now, right?), or do I wait for C++, which I've heard Apple is using for System 7. I don't want to start a language war (too late?), but just some idea of a direction to go in would be nice... Thanks again... Blake -- ******************************************************** * Blake "Hey, where's *MY* fancy .signature?" Sobiloff * * sobiloff@thor.acc.stolaf.edu * ********************************************************
awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas) (06/04/89)
In my opinion, you should stick with Pascal. I am a C programmer who had to learn to read Pascal to learn the toolbox, so I don't much like Pascal and I do my work in C. However, you could easily spend a summer learning the toolbox and learning C is another task altogether. Since much of the available literature (particularly Inside Macintosh) uses Pascal examples, you can concentrate on the toolbox itself. When I was a young man (<sigh>) I would often (and still do) cast about in several directions at once. However, a solid appreciation of the toolbox will stand you in good stead for years to come. You can learn C or C++ next year. BTW, I can heartily recommend Chernicoff's two books on the toolbox (with Pascal examples) and Knaster's two books, as well, for other things. And if THINK's LightSpeed C is any indication, THINK's LightSpeed Pascal would be fine tool for your needs (although I hear good things about Turbo Pascal, as well). That's my sage advice for today. /alastair/ Disclaimer: My employers have never heard of Pascal.
mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu (Dean Yu) (06/04/89)
In article <91@dbase.UUCP> awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas) writes: > >In my opinion, you should stick with Pascal. I am a C programmer who had >to learn to read Pascal to learn the toolbox, so I don't much like Pascal >and I do my work in C. However, you could easily spend a summer learning >the toolbox and learning C is another task altogether. Since much of the >available literature (particularly Inside Macintosh) uses Pascal examples, >you can concentrate on the toolbox itself. When I was a young man (<sigh>) >I would often (and still do) cast about in several directions at once. >However, a solid appreciation of the toolbox will stand you in good stead >for years to come. You can learn C or C++ next year. Actually, if you want to do any serious Mac programming in the next few years, you should learn C++ or Object Pascal. For the longest time, Apple's been using Pascal as their "official" language, which is the reason why the toolbox has a Pascal interface. However recently, Apple's made a move towards C and Object Oriented Programming. Someone who was at the Developers' Conference mentioned to me that if you want to do ANY Mac programming in the future, you'll need to know how to program in an OOP. A friend who's working at Apple mentioned that everyone is programming in either C or 68K, with the exception of the MacApp group which uses Object Pascal. So, what's the point of all this rambling? Learn C or an OOP. _______________________________________________________________________________ Dean Yu | E-mail: mystone@{sol,caen}.engin.umich.edu University of Michigan | Real-mail: Dean Yu Computer Aided Engineering Network | 909 Church St ===================================| Apt C "These are MY opinions." (My | Ann Arbor, MI 48104 employer doesn't want them. |=========================================== Actually, they don't really care | what I think. But President | This space intentionally left blank. Duderstadt does...) | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ra_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu (06/04/89)
In article <91@dbase.UUCP>, awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas) writes... [...] >And if THINK's LightSpeed C is any indication, THINK's LightSpeed Pascal >would be fine tool for your needs (although I hear good things about >Turbo Pascal, as well). Yep, THINK's Lightspeed Pascal is an excellent product, and I highly recommend it (make sure you get version 2.0). I've only fooled around a bit with Turbo Pascal, but it doesn't even seem in the same league, in my opinion. Also, as far as I know, Borland hasn't been giving TP much support at all, and I heard a _rumor_ that they were going to drop it. LSP is the way to go for Pascal, in my opinion (unless you _have_ to do MacApp right away, but since you're starting out, you probably don't. Maybe THINK will have MacApp compatability someday... :->). Robert ------ ra_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu ------ generic disclaimer: all my opinions are mine ------ MOFO knows!
blob@apple.com (Brian Bechtel) (06/05/89)
In article <43a19d53.1285f@maize.engin.umich.edu> mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu (Dean Yu) writes: > A friend who's working at Apple mentioned that everyone > is programming in either C or 68K, with the exception of the MacApp group > which uses Object Pascal. Oh, heck. Does this mean I have to throw away all my lisp and Smalltalk code? :-> --Brian Bechtel blob@apple.com "My opinion, not Apple's"