Specifc Book or Learning Resource... Mac Logic

sheamusj · Oct 22nd, 2006, 11:00 AM

I want to learn about how Apple computers work and would appreciate recommendations regarding a first-rate book or other learning resource.

Specifically...

[1] My assumption is that a central logic or architecture is applicable to the operating system and to all applications that run on the OS.

[2] I want to learn about that architecture. For example: An application (e.g., Word, Safari) has the main application plus preferences plus extensions and probably a ton of other stuff that I don't even know exists. All development must follow certain standards as to what goes where. And I want to know "what" and "goes where" and "why".

[3] Please note... At this point I do NOT want to learn how to develop applications. Rather, I want to acquire a "high-level" understanding of how things are organized and why they are organized in that way.

I wish I could more clearly define my learning resources needs but as of yet I do not have sufficient technological knowledge to even frame my need properly.

Thanks to everyone in advance for their recommendations!

SkyHook · Oct 22nd, 2006, 05:34 PM

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sheamusj · Oct 22nd, 2006, 10:06 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SkyHook
	Everything I could think of always led back to the mothership. No matter what details or published books mights help <A HREF="http://developer.apple.com/">Apple Dev</A> seems to be the place to just dig in and start reading. They're one of the few spots that throw philosophy of design into the nuts and bolts of how to proceed, you just skip the nuts and bolts until you're ready. They're also the evolution of the Apple's original books that you had to buy or read from CD, but I wouldn't recommend a Dev subscription unless you're actually writing code. Design of interfece was always separate from hardware, even though hardware drove the details that bubbled up occassionally. Now that hardware is similar to the competition, and UNIX rules the roost, what's changed? Most of the old motivations are abstracted, so we're into an era of no limits. I think philosophy of software design grew from the good old days, and has evolved from the original Mac ROM and the step sideways from Xerox, but it seems to have merged Apple with the rest of the community in a best-of-breed-in-computing form. I also believe that after you start digesting all of that, the simpler things like "why did they put a pref file here and why is it readable?" will be illuminated as an extension. I'd also recommend browsing titles invoking <A HREF="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mihaib/kernighan-interview/">Ritchie and Kernighan</A>, as C/UNIX basically defined our present. Because of their cruicible position in the computing industry, there has been a lot written about "why". I don't have it unpacked, but there used to be a "bible" of HCI research papers that were collected in an ox-stunning volume, being all that mattered to date on why interfaces look like they do. Big boring blue border on the cover.

Awesome Skyhook!

Thank you for helping me on my technological learning journey. Hope I can return the favor one day!

Best wishes for a great week ahead!

Sheamus

Update: That interview link you provided is a fab read!