NeXTSTEP programming : step one, object-oriented applications

This book is about programming computers running NeXTSTEP. It’s a nononsense, hands-on book that teaches programmers how to write application programs that take full advantage of NeXTSTEP, the operating environment from NeXT Computer Inc. Writing programs for NeXTSTEP is fundamentally different than writing programs for other computers, because NeXTSTEP represents a radical departure from conventional programming environments. One writes NeXTSTEP programs by building systems of related but distinct parts, or objects, and connecting them together to form an integrated whole. Confining different aspects of a program to different pieces makes those pieces easier to design, implement, debug, and reuse. This is what is known as object-oriented programming. NeXTSTEP embodies the principles of object oriented programming from its user interface down to its very core. This greatly simplifies the task of interfacing application programs with the NeXTSTEP operating environment. The downside is that it makes the NeXTSTEP environment very different from the environments to which most programmers are accustomed: there’s a steep curve to climb when learning to program in this easy-to-program environment (sounds strange, but it’s true). We wrote this book out of frustration: at the time, there was no single book that explained step-by-step how to write programs for NeXTSTEP. Instead, a programmer trying to approach the platform was confronted by the NeXT technical documentation and the source-code for several dozen example programs. There was no mention of style, program structure or design considerations. It seemed that there was a black art to writing programs for the black computer, along with a priesthood which promised that newcomers might one day become members — once we paid our dues. With this book, we’ve paid a lot of your dues for you. This book is for anybody who knows how to program in C and wants to do something substantial with NeXTSTEP. Our goal is to get you up-and-running as quickly as possible. This isn’t a textbook or a reference manual — Brad Cox (the inventor of Objective-C) and the technical writing department at NeXT have already written those. This book is instead a jumpingoff point. Consequently, we will occasionally sacrifice depth for breadth and brevity. You won’t learn all of the options of Interface Builder or all the obscure methods that the Text object implements by reading this book. But you'll acquire the conceptual framework necessary to understand NeXT’s excellent documentation, enabling you to discover what you need to know about the Text object and everything else. [Associated diskette image freely available at https://archive.org/details/nextestep-prog-step-one-disk] NeXTSTEP is the central software of the NeXT workstation. It combines object-oriented programming tools, interface customizing utilities, a multitasking Unix operating system, built-in networking, multimedia connections and Display Postscript for showing on the screen exactly what will be printed out on paper. It makes programming faster and smoother than on other systems platforms. It is so unique, that NeXT Computer, Inc., will be making the 3.0 Version of this software available for users working on other platforms, specifically the Intel 486 PC machines, thereby enormously broadening the potential usership for NeXTSTEP. The book by Garfinkel and Mahoney will be the first comprehensive work dealing with the 3.0 Version of the NeXTSTEP in the context of writing programming applications with it. Garfinkel, an experienced author and Senior Editor of NeXTWORLD magazine, has joined forces with an experienced computer scientist and NeXT User Program Director, Mahoney, to create this authoritative, "hands on" work for all NeXT users and developers desiring to program in this object-oriented environment. Cover Half title Imprint Preface Brief Contents Contents 1 Introduction to the NeXTSTEP Graphical User Interface 2 NeXTSTEP Development Tools 3 Creating a Simple Application With Interface Builder 4 Creating an Application Without Interface Builder 5 Building a Project: A Four Function Calculator 6 Nibs and Icons 7 Delegation and Resizing 8 Events and Responders 9 Mach and the Window Server 10 MathPaper and Multiple Windows 11 Spawning Multiple Processes and the Text Object 12 Text and Rich Text 13 Saving, Loading, and Printing 14 Drawing with Display PostScript 15 Draw Yourself: All About NeXTSTEP Views 16 GraphPaper: A Multi-Threaded Application 17 Color 18 View Resizing and Mouse Tracking 19 Zooming and Saving Graphics Files 20 The Pasteboard and Services 21 Preferences and Defaults Appendix A: Source Code Listings Appendix B: References Index The appearance of this book corresponds to the availability date for the 3.0 Version of NeXT STEP. It should be of interest to NeXT computer users and those working with Intel 486-chip based machines, for which NeXT is making the 3.0 Version available for purchase.