Cocoa in a Nutshell 94
Cocoa in a Nutshell | |
author | Michael Beam, James Duncan Davidson |
pages | 545 |
publisher | O'Reilly |
rating | 8 |
reviewer | Emma Story |
ISBN | 0596004621 |
summary | A good overview of the language and API reference. |
Cocoa is a great thing to learn, and if you've got some relevant experience with other languages, this book is a great way to learn it. It's one of the Apple Developer Connection recommended O'Reilly titles, and comprises a complete and thorough reference to the language that most Cocoa developers will appreciate.
I say most Cocoa developers rather than all of them because this is of course a Nutshell handbook - it's not intended to serve as a step-by-step tutorial for those without any prior Cocoa or object-oriented programming experience (for that, there's Learning Cocoa with Objective-C). Readers completely unfamiliar with the language may find the book a little bewildering, it's true. However, that's not to say you need to have already mastered the language before picking up the Nutshell book - the first part contains quite a decent introduction, and if you're already familiar with something like Java, this will probably be all you need. I have a couple of years of experience with C and Java myself, and although this was my first Cocoa book, I didn't feel lost when reading the book's first half.
Coauthor Michael Beam notes that "The 'In a Nutshell' format had always been a very efficient means of communicating information, particularly for more experienced developers. Cocoa is a very verbose and wordy API; that is, the method names are long and can have many arguments. It is often the case that a developer can be moving along in his code, and he knows what method to use, but can't remember the precise syntax. This book seeks to provide a quick way to look up that syntax." I think that's a goal it achieves admirably, and as long as readers are aware they're buying a reference and not a gentle introduction to programming, they won't be disappointed.
It's primarily the second half of the book that serves as a complement to Apple's documentation for the Foundation and AppKit classes. Apple's Cocoa site is better than it used to be, and it does include a basic API Reference along the line's of Sun's site for the Java API - you can use it for the kind of syntax-checking Beam is talking about, and many developers do just that. If you're already in the habit of looking things up on the Apple site, the API documentation in this book won't change your life. I prefer it to the web version, partially because there's slightly more explanation of the various classes, but not everyone will feel the same way.
So, who should buy this book? The intended audience is pretty much the same as that of the other programming-related Nutshell books. If you're completely new to programming, don't bother. You'll be much better off starting with something that assumes no knowledge of programming concepts and skills. On the other hand, if you're an experienced Cocoa developer who'd rather use Apple's Cocoa site than shell out for a book, there's really no reason to do so. But plenty of people don't fall into either of these categories. If you've got some OOP experience, and especially if you've already fumbled your way through a little bit of Cocoa but would like to learn more, you'll find the overview section very useful and the reference section convenient. (It's probably also worth noting that, at least at the moment, Amazon is offering Cocoa in a Nutshell for $15.98, down from $39.95. Even if you're not totally convinced it's worth forty bucks, it's definitely worth sixteen.)
You can also purchase Cocoa in a Nutshell from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page
What the hell? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Funny)
I bet next you'll say that peanuts don't come from peas, eh Mr. Smartypants?
Re:What the hell? (Score:2)
As an aside..I'm greatly disturbed that there is a "peanut institute".
Re:What the hell? (Score:1)
Re:What the hell? (Score:1)
Seriously though, don't mock someone for knowing something you don't. It makes you look even dumber. Any one should know that cocoa doesn't have anything to do with a coconut. I mean it certainly doesn't take a "Dr. Science."
Re:What the hell? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:What the hell? (Score:1)
Re:What the hell? (Score:2)
Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What the hell? (Score:2)
Re:What the hell? (Score:2)
Yes, but I believe the dog's name is Coco.
Re:What the hell? (Score:1)
Is "cocoa in a nutshell" redundant?
Handed out free at last year's WWDC (Score:5, Interesting)
It looks nice, especially the part on the text system, but I can't say I've used it a lot in the year that has passed.
It's good marketing. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's pretty smart. O'Reilly aren't banking on the WWDC attendees only ever buying this one of their books. But they are banking on them being interested in this one, and from that gaining a favorable impression of them and their products.
Re:Handed out free at last year's WWDC (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Handed out free at last year's WWDC (Score:5, Informative)
They're good catalogs - I don't mind.
Re:Food. (Score:1, Insightful)
The API is pretty well documented (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The API is pretty well documented (Score:5, Insightful)
Use an external display at higher resolution... (Score:2)
Re:Use an external display at higher resolution... (Score:1)
Re:Use an external display at higher resolution... (Score:1)
I love slashdot. Where else can you get convoluted non-solutions to non-problems?
I mean, besides in government.
Missed the point (Score:2)
I mentioned the link because it normally isn't possible to do this with an iBook / iMac / eMac - they only support monitor mirroring. The previous link tells of a patch that allows your external display to act as a separate monitor - basically extending your desktop. It turns a cheap iBook into a powerbook, well, almost.
I'm not saying to not get a book, I personally love books. But the page I liked to will allow a person to extend their desktop for free. A hand util
And vice versa ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And vice versa ... (Score:2, Funny)
Fine [amazon.com], you [amazon.com] pedantic [amazon.com] bastard. [amazon.com]
[Damn lameness filter needs more characters per line.]
Re:"Cocoa in a Nutshell"? (Score:2)
Also try Learning Cocoa, an updated NeXT book (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Also try Learning Cocoa, an updated NeXT book (Score:5, Informative)
On that note my next buy will be Programming in Objective-C [samspublishing.com]; the reviews seem to indicate that it's a good book *and* ina rather unusual fashion as examples for both Cocoa and GNUstep.
Re:Also try Learning Cocoa, an updated NeXT book (Score:5, Informative)
It's a very good book. In it, he goes through everything from building a basic console app through building a simple editor for SGML.
Cocoa developers best friend (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Cocoa developers best friend (Score:2, Funny)
XCode: "Look, I already told you! I deal with the customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am GOOD at dealing with PEOPLE! What the heck is wrong with you people??"
Title (Score:1)
Shouldn't that be
Shelled Cocoa
If you're doing a small Cocoa app... (Score:5, Informative)
For example, here's a script (from the RubyCocoa home page) that plays the system sounds: Although he probably could have use Dir.glob rather than parsing the output of ls, but, anyhow...
Re:If you're doing a small Cocoa app... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:If you're doing a small Cocoa app... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:If you're doing a small Cocoa app... (Score:2)
It seems that RIGS is similar in intent to RubyCocoa. A simple example:
Might be worth waiting (Score:5, Informative)
That's probably a good indication that a new edition is on its way. Like most other frameworks, Cocoa is constantly growing. Apple recently added the controller layer and key value binding to support it. These things are important, but they aren't mentioned in the Nutshell book right now. $16 isn't a bad deal for a slightly out of date edition, IMO, but if you want a complete reference, wait a month or two. WWDC is coming up, and I would be surprised if O'Reilly didn't update this volume then.
Besides, if you're using Xcode, or even if you're not, you hardly need a paper reference to Cocoa. Xcode's code completion feature really helps jog your memory, and full documentation for all the classes is just a click or two away.
O'Reilly Upgrades (Score:5, Informative)
If you can wait, of course, you'll get it cheapest of all.
Re:Might be worth waiting; where to look (Score:5, Informative)
Well, there is no new edition of Cocoa in a Nutshell listed on the O'Reilly New and Upcoming Titles Page [oreilly.com]. Then again, the upcoming titles list only goes through June. Perhaps we can expect the new edition in July.
Obligatory Cereal Joke... (Score:1, Funny)
problem with cocoa books (Score:5, Informative)
Re:problem with cocoa books (Score:1)
Would you say then, in your opinion, that this book does a full-assed job?
Re:problem with cocoa books (Score:2)
And you're very right in your assertion... once one has the basics on how to send messages to objects etc. it's easy to forget about Obj-C proper and delve in the OpenStep API, but I've found myself doing really stupid things just to compensate my lack of knowledge of Obj-C.
The GNUstep Tutorials have been a blessing in that regard, and your tutorial is actually quite nice.
I'm also planning to buy that book, everybody seems to have it in high r
Cocoa - GNUStep (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.gnustep.org/
Re:Cocoa - GNUStep (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Cocoa - GNUStep (Score:2, Informative)
Additionally most reports about GNUstep are that it is very difficult to install...
Ideally I'd like to be able to install GNUstep on my Mac and have it integrated with XCode so that I could compile versions of my apps for other platforms.
Re: (Score:1)
*sniff* (Score:1)
Even 14 year old cokeheads can spell it.
Look online instead (Score:5, Informative)
'Cocoa in a nutshell' contains a short introductory chapter on Obj-C, one on the Foundation library, one on App-Kit, one on Quartz and a few others, they're okay but not great.
If you want to learn Obj-C you'd be better of reading:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/
After that the rest of the book is a big Javadoc-style API reference to all of Cocoa.
If you really need it in dead-tree form then maybe it's useful, but otherwise look at:
http://developer.apple.com/referencelibrary/Coc
"Cocoa in a Nutshell" (Score:2)
Mmmmmmmmm.... (Score:2)
the logic underlying that conclusion (Score:1)
Its certainly not contaminated by cheese.
Pesticide is murder (Score:2)
Cocoa Programming (Score:1, Informative)