• Open Menu Close Menu
  • Apple
  • Shopping Bag
  • Apple
  • Mac
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Watch
  • TV
  • Music
  • Support
  • Search apple.com
  • Shopping Bag

Lists

Open Menu Close Menu
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Lists hosted on this site
  • Email the Postmaster
  • Tips for posting to public mailing lists
Re: whether to use core data...
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: whether to use core data...


  • Subject: Re: whether to use core data...
  • From: Colin Howarth <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 21:20:39 +0200

On 3 Oct, 2009, at 18:07, Sherm Pendley wrote:

On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 11:14 AM, Colin Howarth <email@hidden> wrote:

WARNING! Do not even ATTEMPT the NSPersistentDocument Core Data Tutorial!
Your very MIND is in MORTAL DANDER!

Overreact much? We're talking about technical documentation, not an H.P. Lovecraft novel. Cocoa bindings are a prerequisite for learning Core Data, so you should learn that first. This is no different than needing to learn algebra before attempting calculus. If you try it the other way around, you'll waste a lot of time and probably end up confused - not the best result, but a far cry from "mortal danger."

I didn't _really_ think that I was in mortal danger, and H.P.Lovecraft isn't
scary at all.


What part of "... should not simply try to read [it] straight through
..." implies that you shouldn't read it at all? You need to do the
exercises, maybe backtrack a little (or a lot) to review material you
didn't quite get the first time through, etc.

I know, I know...

Apple is simply saying that the guide is a technical tutorial, not the
latest John Grisham novel!

Ah, but I don't read John Grisham novels. I read technical docs for fun and
relaxation. Usually they're precise, concise and clear.



To be honest, I find Apple's documentation to be -- unhelpful -- at the best
of times...

It'd be far more helpful if you skipped all the melodrama. It's not "warning" you of "mortal danger," it's just describing the prerequisites to learning about Core Data.

And finally, how do Apple manage to make load: save: undo: sound more
intimidating than quantum interference?

It's no more intimidating than a college catalog that says "you must complete FOO101 before you can take BAR220."

OK, skipping the melodrama, there's something wrong with the Apple documentation,
but I can't quite put my finger on it.


The Perl man pages on nested data structures, say a dictionary containing arrays containing
other dictionaries which are actually representing objects, I find perfectly clear, for example.
And I did the first time I read it.


Take the Key-Value Coding Programming Guide which describes the NSKeyValueCoding informal protocol which
defines a mechanism allowing applications to access the properties of an object indirectly
by name (or key), rather than directly through invocation of an accessor method or as instance variables.


Translation: You'll find lots of useful things can happen if you access your instance variables
(e.g. the variable bar of the instance foo) like this: baz = foo.bar; foo.bar = baz; which is just
shorthand for baz = [foo bar]; and [foo setBar: baz]; . Other parts of your code can access bar simply
by knowing the string @"bar".


Actually, that's not a translation, it's more or less (less rather than more, I admit) the entire Key-Value
Coding Programming Guide. At least, it's enough to get you going.


_______________________________________________

Cocoa-dev mailing list (email@hidden)

Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list.
Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com

Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden


  • Follow-Ups:
    • Re: whether to use core data...
      • From: Mike Abdullah <email@hidden>
References: 
 >whether to use core data... (From: Colin Howarth <email@hidden>)
 >Re: whether to use core data... (From: Sherm Pendley <email@hidden>)

  • Prev by Date: Re: Keeping NSWindow below all other windows
  • Next by Date: Auto Install Login Item
  • Previous by thread: Re: whether to use core data...
  • Next by thread: Re: whether to use core data...
  • Index(es):
    • Date
    • Thread