November 1st, 2006
In all of my Cocoa adventures to date, the creation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) using Interface Builder has been both the best part of the experience and the worst. Coming from a java background I had previously hand coded all of my GUIs, and in the process have gained a valuable insight into the dreaded GridBagLayout manager (yes I am aware of the various java GUI designers, but I have never found one that I like using).
In the early days it was fantastic to create a native GUI with ease pushing the components around, conforming to Apple’s human interface guidelines was a mere snap away. I was blown away, I was able to take charge of tables like never before! But as I began to understand a little more Cocoa and move away from the tutorials I got a little lost. Where do I put this object? Should I instantiate it in the NIB or from the code? I did (and *occasionally* still do) miss connections, and then wonder why things aren’t happening.
However recently I’ve noticed that I am getting better at understanding where to instantiate objects, and how to link code to NIB files and so on. In the event of any unexpected behaviour, a systematic approach seems to solve most bugs and I can finally spot missing actions. It may take time, and even a little patience, but as you travel on your quest for more cocoa knowledge do not fear the NIB!
Posted in Cocoa, Interface Builder, Xcode | Comments Off
September 10th, 2006
I’d been meaning to put together a script to automate the creation of disk images for a while now. I thought I’d link it in with the build phase, so I could have a brand spanking new disk image for each build. I’m placing the script below for anyone to use.
imagename=”$PROJECT_NAME.dmg”
if [ -e "$imagename" ]
then
rm “$imagename”
fi
hdiutil create -srcfolder $CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR -volname “$PROJECT_NAME” “$imagename”
It’s all fairly simple bash script, and logically executes the statements. The most difficult part of the project was remembering to escape the variables in the hdiutil command. The next step will be subversion integration for version numbers. Stay tuned!
Technorati Tags:
Cocoa, Xcode
Posted in Cocoa, Xcode | Comments Off
August 31st, 2006
Now that I’m back from the Big Nerd Ranch I thought I’d write my own review, as it was the reviews of others that had finally persuaded me to book my place.
The instructor for the course is Aaron Hillegass, author of the highly regarded introductory text on Cocoa programming. The book forms the majority of the course materials, and quite rightly so. It is both well written and easy to follow. In addition to the book another 6 as yet unpublished chapters are used, covering concepts like advanced objective-c, a better understanding of bindings and CoreData.
I’ve been to many courses, but none have been so intensive. There is a lot to cover, but each concept is introduced with a short lecture, followed by activities with enough depth to challenge those that work quickly and those that like to work a little slower or apply the concept to something slightly different.
After a days hard work most students returned to the classroom to play around with what had been covered that day, or work on personal projects. During this time Aaron was available to iron out any wrinkles or help solve any bugs that cropped up.
The real value of the course can only be seen afterwards. I am delighted with how my personal projects have been developing since I returned from the course.
I went as a privateer, and had some initial reservations about the high cost of the course, although these reservations are now a distant memory! So if you have an interest in Cocoa programming or a need to program in Cocoa then book yourself a place on the course today (and if you can get your company to pay for it then all the better!).
Posted in Cocoa, Personal | 2 Comments »
August 20th, 2006
I finally got here, after a sprint through Detroit Airport, ending up at the wrong hotel and some delayed baggage. Ah well at least I made it!
The Big Nerd Ranch is a concept rather than a place. The venue for this cocoa bootcamp has been moved to Serenbe . I must say the venue looks fantastic, very picturesque and certainly quiet. A million miles away from the UK, with only Cocoa to concentrate on. My room is extremely comfortable, with a large bed and a great view from the window. I popped into the classroom briefly to find Aaron setting up. He seemed taller than I expected (and no I don’t know why I thought he’d be shorter).
I’m really looking forward to the week ahead, and more importantly dinner this evening!
Posted in Cocoa | Comments Off
July 21st, 2006
I spent ages looking for these. So I’m popping them up here so that nobody has to spend hours searching for them again! The files for java3d are located in: /System/Library/Java/Extensions/
Posted in Java | 2 Comments »
July 21st, 2006
I have finally booked my place on the August cocoa bootcamp at the Big Nerd Ranch. I’ve been trying to work through Aaron Hillegass’ excellent book, but unfortunatley always been distracted halfway through. I’m hoping that I can get a jumpstart with the course that will allow me to unleash all of my coolest ideas upon the world!
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
June 28th, 2006
I finally stumped up the cash for a new Intel mac. I went for the 20″ model as I thought the extra screen size would come in handy. I ordered it with a gig of RAM in one Dimm and ordered more from Crucial. I threw in a Aperture too. I’d been meaning to pick up a copy for a while but couldn’t bear the thought of it running on my G4 powerBook. I’ll post a review as soon as I’ve had a chance to play.
Now the all important question- Do I install Windows or not?
Posted in Apple, Personal | Comments Off
June 28th, 2006
Many thanks to Daniel Jalkut for sharing some Xcode hints on his blog (link) . The best thing about mac development is definitely the development community.
Posted in Cocoa | Comments Off
June 27th, 2006
Like most people I often have to search for information on the internet. My search engine of choice has for a long time been Google (link), more often than not it finds what I need in fractions of a second. But having a list of possible sources is just one step in the research process. The next steps often include sorting through the various sources, discarding results that are irrelevant and deciding upon the bias of the author.
However, I think I may have come up with a solution that cuts down on my search time dramatically. If I ever need easily understandable information I head for wikipedia (link). It is mostly well written, and generally up to date- plus there are external links if I want to continue looking into the topic. This doesn’t help with the author bias problem, but I’m hoping the peer review element will help.
I still use google for searching for precise information, although if what I want is general information then wikipedia gets my vote!
Posted in Technology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 27th, 2006
After much reading about the joys of capistrano, I decided to test it! I spent ages reading tutorials- and the excellent guide on the ruby on rails website (link). But I still couldn’t deploy my small test apps. I had some great pointers, but basically the gist is if you haven’t already logged into the remote servers by ssh and verified its fingerprint then capistrano deployment fails. Since you cannot ssh into your dreamhost database server, the trick to use is to list your web, app and database servers as the domain that you would like to host from; i.e. ruby.mygreenjar.com. Since all the appropriate database servers should be set in database.yml everything should execute perfectly.
Posted in Ruby on Rails | Comments Off