Programming Challenges for Mac Developers

Carlos Camacho writes "iDevGames, a Macintosh Game Developer's Site has started issuing small programming challenges to Mac developers. The first challenge just wrapped up and the result is two nifty apps. The source code for both apps, and all apps entered into the programming challenges, will be released as open source. The next challenge has added an extra day, so developers have 72 hours. The focus is on creating an application to demonstrate 'A* pathfinding.'"

Here's the skinny

[ABaumann]

First Contest: Develop a Cocoa program that will calculate the distance between two spots on the globe. (given latitude and longitude. ) There were only two submissions. Second Contest: Develop a graphical representation of the A* algorithm using Java, C, or Objective-C. (This one will be 72 hours.) No prizes, only bragging rights... for a site that noone even goes to. Yipee! Have fun.

Re:bleh?!

[Entropy2016]

Just in case you didn't already know, the general consensus is that Aaron Hillegass's "Cocoa Programming for Mac OSX" is the best Cocoa book out there.

Just as important as the the Cocoa book, is bookmarking the Apple Developer Documentation in Safari

file:///Developer/Documentation/Cocoa/Reference/ Ap plicationKit/ObjC_classic/index.html#//apple_ref/d oc/uid/20001093

file:///Developer/Documentation/Cocoa/Reference/ Fo undation/ObjC_classic/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/u id/20001091

I wasted money on a couple other books before I found that one.
If you're still having trouble learning, just ask someone for the source code to a finished app that isn't too big and study it. (If you're really desperate, I've got some code you can study).
- - - - -
Caffeine is not a substitute for sleep

Re:bleh?!

[YouHaveSnail]

Another good thing to do is to get your hands on a Cocoa class browser. Here's one:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/hoshi-takanori/cocoa- br owser/

Seems like a pretty obvious concept, so I'd be surprised if there aren't others. In any case, it can be handy.

Re:Safari

[Have Blue]

I don't know what crack-ass Safari you're running, but it works fine on both my Macs.

Re:bleh?!

[transient]

There's a class browser built-in to Xcode. Select "Show Class Browser" from the Project menu, or press cmd-shift-c.

Recommended Cocoa references

[logicat2001]

Aaron Hillegass's most excellent Cocoa introduction Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X [bignerdranch.com]

When you're done with that one, skip on over and check out my defacto Cocoa bible, Cocoa Programming [cocoaprogramming.net]. Just a fantastic book, application design reference and compilation of knowlege from many years of working with these frameworks.

O'Reilly's Cocoa in a Nutshell [oreilly.com], the API listing you've been yearning for.

Always remember to include Apple's own Cocoa developer pages. [apple.com]

Re:bleh?!

[BorgCopyeditor]

the general consensus is that Aaron Hillegass's "Cocoa Programming for Mac OSX" is the best Cocoa book out there.

That's probably right, but once you've finished it and digested it, so to speak, which probably won't take more than a couple of weeks, the next must-have is Anguish, Buck, and Yacktman: Cocoa Programming. Very in-depth reference guide with some excellent explanations of why Cocoa features work the way they do. Hillegass and Cheeseman are always saying "just do it this way, trust me," which is pretty unsatisfying when you're trying to figure out how to make your own apps do things that you want. That said, Cheeseman's book is the best all-around reference (though it's set up as one massive, continuous project) on Cocoa application "design" (showing you how to package your app, set up resource files, localization, etc.). Anyway, my $0.02 as an owner, reader, and user of all three books.

Re:What's A* pathfinding?

[Chris Burkhardt]

It is a pathfinding/movement algorithm commonly used in the AI of computer games. For example, if a unit on a 2D grid map needs to move from one point to another, the A* algorithm can be used to find a path around any obstacles, etc..

• http://theory.stanford.edu/~amitp/GameProgramming/ [stanford.edu]
• http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/4929/ astar.html [geocities.com]
• http://www.gameai.com/pathfinding.html [gameai.com]