Re: Cocoa approachable by non-programmers ?
Re: Cocoa approachable by non-programmers ?
- Subject: Re: Cocoa approachable by non-programmers ?
- From: Denis Stanton <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 17:24:33 +1300
Hi publiclook (have you no name of your own?)
On Monday, February 24, 2003, at 03:45 PM, publiclook wrote:
I have noticed a lot of questions that are not so much about Cocoa as
about programming in general. I also notice a lot of questions that
are really C questions rather than Cocoa questions.
As I have submitted some of the questions I think you are referring to
I think I can give at least on of the answers.
I'm attempting to learn Objective-C without previously using C.
I began programming in Fortran IV at University. They said Algol 68
(yes, thats 1968) was the future of programming, but when I got a job
in the real world it had to be Cobol. I spent 20 years in the Cobol
world and had brief encounters with RPG, Snobol, Lisp and Small (Algol
derivative, not smalltalk). Later I taught myself enough Pascal to
write a program that sold for enough to buy my first Mac. (128k RAM,
140k floppy disk, no hard drive, a bargain at #1,395 - $2,000).
Pascal, or maybe Modula II was the way of the future. I co-founded a
software development company, originally Macintosh targeted. We hired
programmers who worked in C, and later C++ but it was no longer my job
to program so C passed me by. I tried a few times, but there was never
time or incentive.
Three or four years ago, I became interested in WebObjects and was
happy to find that I could learn Java. About that time WebObjects was
being moved from Obj-C to Java and I welcomed this.
WebObjects is great, but I haven't found a single potential employer
that has heard of it. With OS X and Cocoa there seems to be a
opportunity for me to write programs again and maybe make an
application for sale. I would prefer to build on my Java experience,
buy it seems that Java is very much a second class citizen in the Cocoa
world so I'm learning Obi-C. The problem I encounter is that Obj-C
documenters assume they are talking to experienced C programmers,
rather than reluctant Java converts. I hate it when they say "this is
like printf", and nowhere does it say what "printf" is like.
There is an argument that says I should learn C first. This is not a
bad idea, but I am aware that I would spend many hours learning to do
things that are given for free with Cocoa.
I am enjoying Obj-C, despite some agonizingly slow progress through
basic C stuff, but I do wonder if I'm working myself into an obscure
corner with a language that won't help my resume.
Denis Stanton
_______________________________________________
cocoa-dev mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives:
http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/cocoa-dev
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.