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I've heard this is a really good introduction book, http://www.amazon.com/Objective-C-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Gu...

Having read their Cocoa programming for OS X book (http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-3rd-Edition/dp/0...), I can wholeheartedly recommend their books.

'Become an XCoder' free eBook that is a fairly basic introduction to Objective-C and Cocoa programming.

'From C++ to Objective-C' is also good eBook. http://pierre.chachatelier.fr/programmation/fichiers/cpp-obj...

I also bought 'Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X' http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-3rd-Edition/dp/0...

Cocoa is quite different than anything I had programmed before. Once I wrapped my head around nibs, IBOutlets and IBActions it was fairly easy. Once I got going, the apple developer docs were all I needed, but learning I found easier to do from a book than the docs.

For iOS, MacRuby is unfortunately not an option, as it would require garbage collection. However, for writing OS X software, MacRuby works great (we just shipped an app with it in the App Store - http://briquetteapp.com - and it has definitely been a joy to work with).

Unfortunately, it doesn't really make the learning curve any less intense. While Objective-C's syntax and style are somewhat difficult, the real challenge to Mac/iOS programming is having a working knowledge of the Cocoa API. MacRuby simply acts as a bridge between Ruby and Cocoa, meaning you need to know exactly the same amount about API methods no matter the programming language you choose.

Reading the currently available MacRuby book is a great idea - http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9781449380373/. If you find yourself confused by the concepts, you should try learning Objective-C and Cocoa first (I learned with http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/032150...). It is certainly possible to dive in with MacRuby! Just remember that it's not 1.0 yet, and could present technical difficulties in unexpected ways. Otherwise, it's super fun!

⬐ jmonegro

Thanks for your response! Briquette looks great :)

All things considered, it seems like MacRuby might make it's way onto iOS in the future (http://iflipbits.com/post/1101983568/macruby-soon-on-ios, although that's 8 months old, so I'm not really counting on it for now).

Yes, I figured that out after researching enough about obj-c, cocoa, and macruby. That's why I wondered if learning MacRuby first would ease me into the process by taking away a layer of difficulty (obj-c). Then after I get the hang of it, I could transition to objective-c, maybe through one of PeepCode's screencasts, "Objective-C for Rubyists".

⬐ ddagradi

It's definitely possible to start with MacRuby. It just requires a little more overhead to translate Cocoa documentation into methods that work with MacRuby (not to mention the occasional one that doesn't work right...).

As a Rubyist, there's definitely some differences (named parameters, for instance), but you get the hang of it pretty quick. As a Cocoa developer, debugging with MacRuby has issues, as Xcode doesn't always know about the right symbols since it's not compiled (but this is getting better!).

Use the MacRuby book, and learn to love Xcode's documentation, and you should be good to go. If you do have issues, email the macruby-devel mailing list or visit #macruby - the community is super friendly and happy to help!

re iOS: I'm really hoping. With MacRuby shipping by default with Lion, iOS 5 will hopefully follow suit this summer.

⬐ jmonegro

With what you know, would you recommend I skip MacRuby and jump straight into obj-c/cocoa?

⬐ ddagradi

I would. MacRuby adds to the experience once you already know what you're doing. As an introduction to Cocoa, it adds a lot of difficulty too.

I started out developing for the Mac with "The Objective-C Programming Language" but found it clumsy and kind of dense. In my opinion "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" by Aaron Hillegass (http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/032150...) is much better in the way it introduces concepts, and flows from chapter to chapter. Well worth the investment if you're serious about developing for the Mac.

⬐ torpor

I took the same route, and recently picked up Hillegass' book again after 3 years iOS development .. and have been pleasantly surprised just how relevant it has become. I've really enjoyed Objective-C development lately, I only wish it'd be useful on non-Apple platforms. And now having had some experience, I'm amazed at the utility of "Cocoa Programming for Mac OSX" even though mine is the first edition ..

Can not recommend it highly enough!

⬐ nonrecursive

I found that Aaron Hillegass's book was decent enough as a tutorial, but halfway through it left me feeling like it raised too many questions without answering them. I was making toy apps but I didn't know what the hell was going on. Just my two cents.

_Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X_[1] by Aaron Hillegass is really great. It's not an iPhone book, but there's enough similarity that it'd still be a really valuable read.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-COCOA-PROGRAMMIN...

This one is a must have for the beginner.

http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/032150...

As far as I can tell (as an amateur mac developer), the major advantage Objective-C has on the mac over other platforms is the extensive support that Cocoa [1], Apple's giant grouping of APIs/Frameworks/etc, lends. It's so helpful, in fact, that many Mac developers refer to programming in Objective-C as "Cocoa Programming" (also, it's the title of the best programming book I've ever read [2]).

[1]http://developer.apple.com/cocoa/

[2]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321503619

⬐ 10ren

Sounds like it's branded/positioned as "Cocoa"... and possibly support is lacking on other platforms (I guess you mean libraries - they're crucial for language success).

⬐ dschobel

more so in objective-c which is really a simple language.

the framework is everything.

I first tried to learn mac development a year ago by going through http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/032150... . I did the examples in the book, so I was getting my hands dirty somewhat, but as I went through the book I got more and more confused. There were too many questions I had that the book didn't answer, nor did Apple's online documentation.

Part of the problem was that I didn't know C at all. Recently I decided to have another go at it, so I read the first chapter of K&R and did all the exercises, then read a few of the other chapters (2, 5, and 6 I believe). After that, I read this book: http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430218150 . "Learn Objective-C on the Mac" has been great - it's readable, good-humored, succinct, and comprehensive. It's answered all the remaining questions I still had about ObjC and I finally feel like I get the language.

BTW, Aaron's the author of one of the finest books on programming, programming Cocoa/Mac in Objective-C specifically: http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/032150...

If you've ever wanted to write that little iPhone app, pick up his book and you'll be a pro in few months.

Objective-C 2.0 introduced garbage collection and "properties", as well as a new enumeration syntax.

The best beginning Cocoa book is "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X", found here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321503619/bignerdran...

It's a great book, and a huge number of mac developers got started with it. The new version (which has Obj-C 2.0, Leopard, and other updates) just came out a few weeks ago.