The best way to learn macOS application development

I went into the same problem when I started development for MacOS. A lot exist for iOS, but very little for MacOS, unless pretty old Apple technical guides.

I found some books, but they were not really tutorials.

So, I had to look for some sample apps and try to figure out how to develp my app with this. A bit tricky.

Now, I have a typcial architecture for my Mac Apps that I reuse from app to app.

And of course, I used this forum to get some help when needed…

In addtion to your other efforts, I suggest you (a) scan Apple's past WWDC Videos, and (b) gear up for this year's virtual conference.

Good luck.

hi,

you mentioned:

I checked out the free 24 page download for Hacking macOS by Paul Hudson from the Hacking With Swift site, but the in the 24 page sample it starts off having you create a macOS application and choosing "Cocoa Application", which is not an option in XCode 11.1. Is it the same and Apple just changed the name to just "App"? I'm skeptical to buy something when right off the bat there is an inconsistency with what the reader is encountering between the book and real world. Anyone have experience learning from that author?

i've found Paul Hudson's materials to be top-notch, but it's unfortunate that the screen shot he has at the opening shows a slightly older version of XCode. it should of course be MacOS --> App (in XCode 11.4).

you should contact Paul directly if you have concerns -- he posts his email address on the page where you found the download link.

hope that helps,

DMG

That's the problem with dead tree versions, if that's what that download is from...they can't keep up with current tools and SDKs, leaving newbies to wonder why things don't match up, coming here for support, letting the authors of the hook while time is lost decoding the fact that questions are based on older tools, etc.

Only remedy is to avoid those resources, unless as you note, you can contact the authors and hope they respond. We don't have time here to provide free support for 3rd parties 😉 and Apple didn't agree to let them rely on devForums as part of their business plans.

Ken

Xcode is a development system. C and C++ are programming languages.

Most Mac programming tutorial material is for Objective-C or Swift, which are both programming languages.

SwiftUI is still very new, I would advise you to stay away from it for now.

Search the Internet for "macOS programming tutorial" and pick something where you like the style and the examples aren't too old. If possible, run exactly the same version of Xcode and everything else (OS, SDK, Swift) that the tutorial uses.

Read up about how best to ask questions on the Internet, and then ask away if you still need to.

Different people learn best in different ways. Also, you begin as a beginner, and become more and more experienced. The best resources for you will vary depending on the level of your expertise. I find that particularly in the beginning, it is very useful to have a more knowledgeable friend who can point out a misplaced semicolon or bracket.

Unfortunately, these forums don't have a great deal of traffic - some questions go unanswered for months, there are more lively online forums than these.

Good luck!

If you're just want to get started, choose one of the Xcode app templates for the Mac and you're already have an app. More so, iOS and macOS now shares a lot of frameworks such that many iOS apps are just a checkbox away from being a mac app.

The following URL contains a list of Mac programming resources:

swiftdevjournal.com/resources-for-learning-mac-development/

Don't listen to these guys. You don't need re-learn anything, that's why Apple made MacCatalyst. Just make an iPad app, adjust the UI and code. You'll be good to go.