Really general wxMac question...

[ssigala]

Hello, sorry for this general question, but I would like to port some
wxWidgets applications to the Mac platform.

I have experience on *NIX and Windows, but none in the Mac platform

1) I don't own a Mac: what model do you suggest to buy for applications porting?

2) Witch type of IDEs/compilers/tools are required for "standard" Mac applications developing? E.g. for Windows I would suggest:
* Visual C++
* InnoSetup
* An icon editor
* A text/bin editor, like UltraEdit
* WinZip

3) The generated apps are forward and backward compatible
with the existing Mac models?

Thanks in advance,
Sandro

[jokke]

I am sort of in the same situation as you. I will be receiving a eBook 14" this week; I will get back to you with info on how good/bad it is for the purpose.

I have been told that in OSX, gcc is included along with the Mac similarity to the M$ devstudio. Thus, they say that if one gets OSX, everything needed for software devloping should be included.

As for the Windows programs, I would not suggest WinZip, since there are a lot of programs that does the same things, but better and for free. (E.g. IZarc.)

[Jorg]

Although the learning curve is a bit higher then for general tools, I would recommend CMake as well for your building environment. CMake generates project files for various OS'es such as MacOS, Linux, Windows. So whenever you have your script in place, you can generate for every OS relieving you of the burden of maintaining makefiles.

http://www.cmake.org/HTML/Index.html

My latest components also have a CMake script so you can grab them from my site if you want to see how it works.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~jorgb

- Jorgen

[Ryan Norton]

The questions have been sort of answered already, but I'll take a shot at it also...

1) I don't own a Mac: what model do you suggest to buy for applications porting?

Any. Make sure you get 10.2 for it if you're going to be making commercial apps (general rule of thumb - always target the lowest common denominator).

2) Witch type of IDEs/compilers/tools are required for "standard" Mac applications developing?

10.2- comes with ProjectBuilder and 10.3+ comes with XCode which are built into the system and work fine. Is ain't Visual Studio though.

3) The generated apps are forward and backward compatible
with the existing Mac models?

Nope - see (1). Apple is notorious for dumping backwards compatability.


---------

Also, in reference to Jorg's reference to CMake - try comparing that with bakefile, the build system newer versions of wxWidgets use.

[Ryan Wilcox]

Any. Make sure you get 10.2 for it if you're going to be making commercial apps (general rule of thumb - always target the lowest common denominator).

I would say "no" to this advice. With 10.4 on the horizon, you might as well plan to target 10.3, then retain that compatibility when 10.4 ships.

Plus, the latest wxMac works the best on 10.3 or higher (I think).

3) The generated apps are forward and backward compatible
with the existing Mac models?

I believe your apps will always be forward compatible. Backwards, like Ryan Norton said, is a different story... especially if you want to target OS 9. (My advice and that front: it's Probably Not Worth It)

I have been told that in OSX, gcc is included along with the Mac similarity to the M$ devstudio.

Yes. The developer tools may or may not be included in the package. If they aren't you can sign up for a free online developer account at http://developer.apple.com

Witch type of IDEs/compilers/tools are required for "standard" Mac applications developing? E.g. for Windows I would suggest:

You can do your work with gcc/make or XCode. If you need to target OS 9, or want a higher quality (less crashy, etc etc) IDE than XCode, you should try Metrowerks Codewarrior (http://www.metrowerks.com). It's a bit pricey, but mostly worth it.

A development environment is really all you need. A basic icon editor is included in the development package, and if you need a separate editor there's BBEdit (http://www.barebones.com) or I think there's a Mac version of UltraEdit now.

[Ryan Wilcox]

I believe your apps will always be forward compatible.

I was going to modify what I said here, but even most old OS 9 apps run on OS X (albelit through "Classic", a quasi-emulation layer for OS 9 only apps).

So, now I'm not

[Ryan Norton]

I would say "no" to this advice. With 10.4 on the horizon, you might as well plan to target 10.3, then retain that compatibility when 10.4 ships.

Plus, the latest wxMac works the best on 10.3 or higher (I think).

Well, I would disagree with that - I still think the baseline is 10.2 right now. If you target 10.3+ you're excluding a lot of users (most?) from using your app.

Anyway, differing opinions are always good...

[ssigala]

Thanks for the answers. I have a few more questions :

(sorry if they are not stricly wxMac related, but effectively I
need to know how the Mac world works for... working with wxMac...)

1) If I buy a new Mac, can I choose the OS version, or is always shipped with the latest?

2) The user can upgrade from a 10.x version to the newer or a
reinstallation is required? The full OS package must be buyed or an upgrade is available?

3) If I'm running 10.4, for example, no way is possible to product a single "multi version" distribution that works in 10.3, 10.4?


Thanks again,
Sandro

[Ryan Norton]

1) If I buy a new Mac, can I choose the OS version, or is always shipped with the latest?

It's always shipped with the latest.

2) The user can upgrade from a 10.x version to the newer or a
reinstallation is required? The full OS package must be buyed or an upgrade is available?

A full OS package must be buyed. Sometimes apple offers upgrades - but they usually only last a couple of weeks and are only for people who got a computer with a previous os within a couple weeks of new one.

3) If I'm running 10.4, for example, no way is possible to product a single "multi version" distribution that works in 10.3, 10.4?

Should be fine as long as you don't call any 10.4-specific routines