mudpit@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (dan quoidbach) (05/03/90)
As the subject line indicates, I'm interested in learning how to program in C on the Mac. We got the higher-ups at work to get us an SE30 but they won't develop any software for us. It's not a big thing, the job will still get done using the PC-clones they support. However the job could be done _better_ with a Mac. Thus I've made it my long term goal to learn how to program the Mac so that we can develope our own tools. However, I'm going to need some help to get started. I'm not a programmer, just a geologist with some Fortran experience. I'm not just low on the learning curve, I'm stuck in the pit down at the bottom of the slope! I would really appreciate some information from the net on how to get started and what pitfalls to avoid. Obviously I'm in no rush to learn so I'd like to take time and do it right and work toward develping some specific programs I have in mind. So, a few basic questions: I've seen a number of programming packages advertised, like Think C and Lightspeed C. Is one superior to the others or is it a matter of taste? Is a C package all you need to get started or are there other tools of the trade that are a must have (debuggers, etc)? Are there any books and reference materials that are useful or essential besides whatever manuals come with the C package? As you can see this is a whole new world to me. I've called my local Apple Authorized Dealer, but he didn't seem too interested in helping me out. I guess he has too much business already :-) ! Any help you can give me will be very much appreciated. Please reply to mudpit@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu Thanks a bunch for the help, Dan Quoidbach
russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (05/04/90)
In article <2355@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> mudpit@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (dan quoidbach) writes: >I've seen a number of programming packages advertised, like Think C and >Lightspeed C. Is one superior to the others or is it a matter of taste? Think and Lightspeed are the same product. The two most popular C's out there are MPW C and Think C. The consensus seems to be that MPW C produces better/faster code, and that Think C is faster, less expensive, and easier to use. On the other hand, if you will be using Fortran also, you might want to go with MPW because it allows mixing languages much easier than Think C. >Is a C package all you need to get started or are there other tools of the >trade that are a must have (debuggers, etc)? With Think, the C includes the debuggers and everything else necessary. With MPW, you need to purchase a 'Shell' program, and a program called SADE (Standard Apple Debugging Environment) if you want to do source-level debugging. >Are there any books and reference materials that are useful or essential >besides whatever manuals come with the C package? I found the 'C Primer Plus' to be great for learning C, but I basically puzzled out how to do the mac stuff myself (with some help from the Apple sample code that existed at the time). BTW, I've heard that the new edition of the 'C Primer Plus' is not nearly as good as the old one. -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu ][, ][+, ///, ///+, //e, //c, IIGS, //c+ --- Any questions?