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Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer.info Subject: [REV] Mac Programming Book Review (1/3) From: nick.c <nick@chem.ucla.edu> Organization: Digital Innovations Approved: MacTech Online <Online@MacTech.com> Distribution: world Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: Nick's "Quick Hack" Poster [Last Updated: May 01, 1997] [Review] Macintosh Programming Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Mac Toolbox is a collection of ROM "tools" that you can use to generate many of the common elements of the Macintosh interface: both it's visible interface and it's "method" for relating to the user. A program is a recipe for getting a job done that the computer will read and follow. You can tell the computer to use the "tools" in the ROM Toolbox as well as other actions but you have to tell the computer in a language it'll understand. The most common language for creating these recipes on the Mac is C. Learning a language is a separate, and should be the first, step in learning to program a Macintosh. Only after you understand a language like C or Pascal well should you worry about manipulating the unique routines of the Macintosh Toolbox to create Macintosh specific effects like menus and dialogs. Only after you understand the Toolbox should you worry about class libraries that couple many of these routines into programming constructs--objects--to realize larger and more involved projects quickly. The following are recommended texts for help learning the principles of programming in C, learning C++, learning the Toolbox, familiarizing yourself with a particular programming environment, and other unique issues involved in programming the Macintosh. I've collected them from usenet posts or other sources, and since I haven't read all of them I've included descriptions supplied by folks who have. The author of the description is indicated when I had it. If anyone objects to being quoted or if I've misquoted anyone, just let me know and I'll remove or correct that entry. Please keep in mind, "best" is an subjective term. New additions and corrections have been marked "!!" and you can search for these strings to jump to the indicated sections: Part 1: = Learning C = Learning Pascal = Learning JAVA = Learning C++ Part 2: = Learning the Toolbox = Mac Programming Resources = Learning the PowerMac Part 3: = Graphics Programming = PDA Programming = Special Issues - nick.c ________________________________________________________________________ Part 1 of 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~ // ============================ Learning C ============================= // // C is the defacto standard language for programming the Mac, // while not your only choice, it's certainly a good one for // a first language. // _The C Programming Language_ 2nd ed. by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, Prentice Hall, 1988 ISBN: 0-13-110362-8 The definitive reference for the C language. A must have. - nick.c *** The comp.lang.c FAQ: <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html> <ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/s/scs/C-faq> _C Programming FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions_ by Steve Summit Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-84519-9 The usenet group comp.lang.c is a powerful source for help with the C language, and the FAQ for that group should be required reading for anyone taking on the C languge. It is regularly posted to that group, available by ftp, http, and soon to be published by Addison-Wesley DevPress. - nick.c *** _Learn C on the Macintosh_ 2nd Ed by Dave Mark Addison Wesley, 1995, ISBN: 0-201-48406-4, $35 Dave Mark has revised his classic. I haven't read this one yet but hope to by the next release of the review. - nick.c *** _The Standard C Library_ by P.J. Plauger, Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-131509-9 While browsing at Barnes & Noble the other day I came across a book published by Plum Hall and written by the author of the Metrowerks libraries (name escapes me at the moment). It was on the ANSI libraries, and contained the statement, "The best reference to the ANSI libraries is the source of the libraries themselves." - unknown *** _C: A Reference Manual_ 4th ed, by Samuel P. Harbison and Guy L. Steele Jr., Prentice-Hall, 1995 Although Kernighan & Ritchie is the "original" definition of C, I found that it is not very helpful in quickly answering questions arising during actual programming. The second edition may have been improved somewhat. However, what I consider THE ultimate C reference is [Harbison and Steele]. It really helped me quickly find answers to many tricky C programming questions. I consider this a must. It is not a good book for learning the C language. - Tom Verhoeff <wstomv@win.tue.nl> *** _Comprehensive C_ by David Spuler, Prentice Hall, 1992 ISBN: 0-13-156514-1 Picked this one up in Australia, so you might have trouble finding it elsewhere. A *very* good guide to ANSI standard C, covering all the various libraries in detail. Good chapters on portability and reusability of code, and general debugging techniques. A special appendix detailing the differences between C and Pascal for anyone moving between languages. The first 6 chapters or so are an in-depth look at all the various C keywords for flow control, variable assignments, etc. Geared more towards a UNIX type environment, but a good book for anyone wanting to know more about C nonetheless. - Samrobb <samrobb@aol.com> *** _C: the Pocket Reference, 2nd ed. by Herbert Schildt Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1991 ISBN: 0-07-881783-8 I also *strongly* recommend ''C: the Pocket Reference'' by Herbert Schildt. I love this little book! It's great for a quick lookup of functions, especially in instances where you forget what order or type of arguments a certain function takes. - Michael P. Minori <gt7344b@prism.gatech.edu> *** _Annotated ANSI C Standard_, annotations by Herbert Schildt, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-881952-0 This book is the only affordable way to get a hold of a copy of the [ANSI C] standard. ... This is the document [the ANSI C standard] that _defines_ the language and belongs on the bookshelf of every serious C programmer. - Peter V. Gadjokov <pvg@bigbook.com> It has been suggested that the price differential between this work [$40] and the official standard [$130-400] reflects the value of the annotations: they are plagued by numerous errors and omissions, and a few pages of the Standard itself are missing. Many people on the net recommend ignoring the annotations entirely. A review of the annotations ("annotated annotations") by Clive Feather can be found on the web at <http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/schildt.html>. The text of the Rationale (not the full Standard) can be obtained from: <ftp://ftp.uu.net/doc/standards/ansi/X3.159-1989> <http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/rat/title.html> - from the comp.lang.c FAQ by Steve Summit <scs@eskimo.com> // ====================== Learning Pascal ============================= // // Pascal was the favorite language of Macintosh programmers for // many years. As it is more rigidly structured language than C, // programmer mistakes are more likely to be caught by your compiler. // Much of the Macintosh system was written in Pascal and some of // the most essential toolbox references are still written in it. // _Scientific Pascal_, by Harley Flanders Birkhauser Publishing, ISBN: 0-8176-3760-5 "In my mind it is not suitable as a first text on programming... It is not a book in which you will learn to program the Macintosh user interface. But this is essentially irrelevant. The great bulk of the code consists of algorithms that are independent of any GUI or operating system specifics. And that in my mind is the real strength of this book. It is chock-full of useful, carefully coded (and carefully documented), real-world algorithms that can be used by any mathematically literate scientist or engineer. In that sense it is comparable to Numerical Recipes in Pascal---except that Flander's code is far better." Source code included on DOS formatted floppy. - Richard S. Palais <palais@math.brandeis.edu> c.f. <http://users.aol.com/catambay/pascal-central/scipascal.html> // ========================= Learning JAVA =========================== // // JAVA is hot right now. It's a new oop language from SUN and one // I'm only learning myself at this point. But it's becoming very // clear that knowing JAVA as a second language will take you far // in the years to come. // _Core Java_ by Gary Cornell and Cay Horstmann SunSoft Press "The book is good to read and I have understood quite a few interesting things in a very short time. The book is about $40.00. It comes with a CD-ROM which has the JDK, the examples from the book and other similar books from SunSoft and also some development tools." - Krishnan Venkiteswaran <krishnan@gradin.cis.upenn.edu> _Exploring Java_ O'Reily Press My current favorite in Java books is the newly published "Exploring Java". It's more of a reference book, than a book to learn by. A lot of the other books out suffer from being rushed to market, in my opinion, to catch the Java wave. One point in Exploring Java's favor, in my opinion, is that it doesn't come with one of these useless CDs in the back with a jacked up price to match. EJ is only about $25 (US) compared to the usual $35-$40 price of the +CD books. - Wayne Holder <wholder@shvn.com> // ========================== Learning C++ =========================== // // C++ is the object implementation of C. You should learn C // before you learn this more complex superset of C. There's no // rush to getting around to C++, it's a wonderfull language, // but not essential to programming the Macintosh. I've also // included books about program design and code optimization in // this section. // _The C++ Programming Language_ 2nd ed., by Bjarne Stroustrup Addison Wesley Publishing, 1991 ISBN: 0-201-53992-6 As close to a definitive reference for the C++ language as exists. Very important reference, and one I've come to value more each time I re-read it. It's not a tutorial. - nick.c *** The comp.lang.c++ FAQ: <http://www.cerfnet.com/~mpcline/C++-FAQs-Lite/> - nick.c *** _Introduction to Object Oriented Programming_ by Timothy Budd Addison-Wesley Dev Press, 1991, ISBN: 0201547090 One of the reasons C++ is hard to learn is that it is very difficult to describe both the language and OOP foundations in a clear, consistent manner. Timothy Budd's book introduces general OOP concepts and then provides discussion and examples of their implementations in C++, Smalltak, Objective C and Object Pascal. It's a blue hardcover, about the size and thickness of, say, the C++ ARM. There is a picture of platypus on the cover, I've heard people refer to it as 'the platypus book'. (According to the info on Amazon [www.amazon.com], a second edition, with added examples in CLOS, Java and Beta will be published Sept 1st. [1996]) - Peter V. Gadjokov <pvg@bigbook.com> *** _Secrets of the C++ Masters_ by Jeff Alger I'd like to mention an often overlooked book that I consider an excellent source of ideas for people designing class libraries. The reason it's overlooked is that it has one of the dumbest titles on the C++ shelf: "Secrets of the C++ Masters" by Jeff Alger. The book is a real gem, though. It assumes a thorough knowledge of C++, and so doesn't waste time teaching what most readers already know or can learn from other sources (In the preface, Jeff suggests an alternate title for the book might be "C++: The Way Of The Gurus" -- jeez, Jeff, maybe you ought to let someone else work on your book titles in the future...) The book focuses on three recurring themes: indirection, homomorphic class hierarchies, and memory spaces. In these, he develops some intriguing ideas (for example, one discussion covers dumb, smart, smarter, master, and insufferably brilliant pointers) which highlight potential pitfalls that most people might never even consider when designing classes. Highly recommended. - Paul Ferguson <fergy@best.com> *** _C++ Programming with CodeWarrior_ by Jan L. Harrington Academic Press, 1995 ISBN: 0-12-326420-0 This book teaches object-oriented concepts from the beginning and focuses on ANSI C++. (I'm doing a sequel on the ToolBook and PowerPlant next...) I realize that this book is beyond most of the people in this newsgroup [comp.sys.mac.programmer.codewarrior], but occassionally we get a newbie here, and there have been a few requests for titles of this type. So, in case someone asks, you now know about it. - Jan L. Harrington <harrington@mhv.net> *** _Learn C++ on the Macintosh_ by Dave Mark Addison Wesley Publishing, 1993 ISBN: 0-201-62204-1 An introduction to C++, best if you already understand C. I'd consider this an unofficial "part 2" to Dave's Learn C book. Includes a limited version of Symantec C++ 6.0. - nick.c *** _Effective C++ / 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs_ by Scott Meyers Once you get your feet wet, and want to know how to best use your new-found C++ abilities, the book to get is "Effective C++ / 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs" by Scott Meyers. - Gilles Dignard <gdignard@hookup.net> *** _Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms_ by James Coplien ISBN 0-201-54855-0 [A] book I would recommend is "Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms". I learned from (and am still learning from) both Stroustup's and Coplien's book. Coplien's discussion on virtual functions and inheritance is particularly clear and concise, IMHO. Don't let the term "advanced" scare you off. - John Zachary <zachary@bit.csc.lsu.edu> *** _Writing Solid Code_ by Steve Maguire May I pop in with a recommendation for "Writing Solid Code" by Steve Maguire? Once you've gotten through your first C or C++ or even Pascal book, this book will teach you lots of good habits which will help you a LOT. It also goes through known problem areas, especially when writing C code, and tells you what you can do about it. Or maybe I should keep quiet about it and treat it as a secret corporate advantage? :-) - Jon Wtte <h+@nada.kth.se> *** _The Decline and Fall of the American Programmer_ by Edward Yourdon Yourdon Press, (c) 1993 ISBN 0-13-191958 about $20US The single most important book I've read about programming. This will frighten you, send chills down your spine, but it will also prepare you for a career in the computing industry. Chapters are clear, precisely written, and summarized. It covers an amazing array of ideas and principles; an entirely new approach to design and methodologies. If you care about world-class design, you have to go read this book. - Jason Newquist <jrnewquist@ucdavis.edu> *** _The Annotated C++ Reference Manual_ (ARM) Ellis & Stroustrup _Effective C++_, Scott Meyers - (Awesome book!) _C++ IOStreams Handbook_, Teale I rely on the [above] pretty heavily. Apart from the last one, these are more general C++ references rather than Mac-specific. I'll leave the Mac stuff to those who actually do Macs for a living (I play for fun). - Todd Blanchard <tblanch@lookout> *** [Corrections, comments, or suggestions should be mailed to Nick DeMello at <nick@chem.ucla.edu>. The latest version of this review can be found at <ftp://members.aol.com/codeweaver/bookreview_1.txt> <ftp://members.aol.com/codeweaver/bookreview_2.txt> <ftp://members.aol.com/codeweaver/bookreview_3.txt>] ========================================================================== Comp.sys.mac.programmer.info is a moderated newsgroup, where FAQ's, reviews, job listings, and other information valuable to Macintosh programmers may be posted and found. csmp.info is moderated by the MacTech Online Editor <Online@MacTech.com> of MacTech Magazine <http://www.mactech.com/> ==========================================================================