‘Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X’ by Aaron Hillegass
I’m Kicking Myself
I had decided not to look into Cocoa and Objective-C, as I already have enough projects and miscellaneous work on my hands as it is. I told myself that I don’t need more trouble. However, after a few subway hours with Aaron’s book, I’m hooked.
On the back of the book it says: “The practical guide everyone says you need.” I don’t know about that, but now I at least feel the need for Cocoa. And that could be interpreted as a good mark for Cocoa, but I can assure you nothing less than this book could have pushed me over the edge into giving it a try. Aaron says it pretty well in the introduction: “You will love Cocoa, but perhaps not immediately.”
In Safe Hands
What comes to mind when I try do describe this book is the word “safety”. Aaron doesn’t allow any doubt or low self-esteem, and it is clear that he’s an astute teacher. He starts off with a few short paragraphs on how to read the book and how to think when learning Cocoa — a short pep talk. Then he does what no other programming book I’ve read has done, and which worked surprisingly well with me. I’ll quote him clean off the pages: “Many books would start off by giving you a lot of philosophy. This would be a waste of precious paper at this point. Instead, I am going to guide you through writing your first Cocoa application. Upon finishing, you will be confused, and ready for the philosophy.”
And my, that worked really well. When the first chapter is through, a short Cocoa application is under your belt, and you have, without even noticing it, gone through Project Builder, Interface Builder, and a little Objective-C. After that, a short bombardment of Objective-C knowledge, and then you’re off into Cocoa. One thing to notice is that Aaron effectively avoids making the reader feel bored at any point. The boring stuff is sprinkled among the fun, meaty parts of the course, and his natural and nice language makes it all very pleasant to go through.
Aaron’s style of writing is vocal and very humble. You feel appreciated and noticed through the entire book. It’s like taking a private lesson, really. It’s a brilliant introduction to Cocoa, and if you feel like you need that little push in the right direction to get going, then I really suggest that you pick up this book. According to other reviews of it, it seems that it truly is the best entry point (however, this is the only book I’ve read on Cocoa so far, so I can’t second that). The only thing I can complain about is the ordering of the chapters. Although they feel very fluid, I’m sure that a slight reordering could make the trip through Cocoa even more natural.
But hey, that’s being picky. You’ll go through all the chapters anyway, just for the fun of it. I really can’t complain about anything here, I find it to be a very solid book. Aaron’s intention is not to make you a full-fledged Cocoa programmer, but to help you over the hump in the learning curve, and he comes through with flying colors, staying true to that intention. From here on, it feels like a no-brainer to take on Apple’s Cocoa Documentation.
Conclusion
Whether Cocoa is right or wrong for you, I can’t say. I know I’ll do a lot of Cocoa for writing editing tools, but if you feel the least urge to look into it, I strongly suggest this book.
Related Books:
416 pages 1st edition (December 3, 2001)
Addison-Wesley Pub Co
ISBN: 0201726831
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201726831/idevgames-20
Further Resources
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