   from windows to macintosh
  So I am a succesful programmer in c++ in win32 and directX.  But now I have a friend who has a macintosh computer and I wanted to learn how to make my code versital enough to be easily portable to the macintosh computer.But how do I do that???  I don't even know how to program in Macintosh.  So could I still use C++ to program for the Macintosh and if I did, I can't use the win32 api, so what would i use instead.  Do macintosh's even run .exe files?????I know nothing in macintosh's and was wondering if anyone could help me learn to program or anything along that line in macintosh.  Thank you for any help.   
  I personally don't know anything about Mac development, so I can't answer your question directly.  However, since you are wanting to branch out and become more "versatile", I would highly recommend making some space for another partitian and installing some variant of linux.  It is a very valuable bit of knowledge in many quarters, particularly in the simulation industry.And, since the Mac OS is built on FreeBSD you presumably will pick up a bit of knowledge along the way that might help with Mac development.  Like I said, though... I know nothing about Mac development, so I may be wrong about that last part.   ;  No, Macs do not run .exe files. Macs use "application bundles" (.app files) which are basically directories (which can be executed) containing all of the resources required by the app (.nib files, images/icons, etc). I would start at Apple Developer Connection. Another site to check out is the iDevApps forum. For games there is iDevGames.[Edited by - ontheheap on June 19, 2006 9:53:52 PM];  ...And forget DirectX if you're going to Mac.  Mac is OpenGL only.  If you need the additional functionality previously supplied by DirectX for I/O look into SDL.  Yeah it stinks performance-wise when used by itself but when used with OpenGL it can deliver pretty decent cross-platform results.   ;  If you want to develop software for a mac I think you should probably get a Mac and make sure you get the Macintosh C++ compiler X Code Tools, it should be included with the software package.   ;Quote:Original post by Bliz23So I am a succesful programmer in c++ in win32 and directX.  But now I have a friend who has a macintosh computer and I wanted to learn how to make my code versital enough to be easily portable to the macintosh computer.But how do I do that???  I don't even know how to program in Macintosh.  So could I still use C++ to program for the Macintosh and if I did, I can't use the win32 api, so what would i use instead.  Do macintosh's even run .exe files?????I know nothing in macintosh's and was wondering if anyone could help me learn to program or anything along that line in macintosh.  Thank you for any help.Yes you can use C++ on Macs. Just make if you use Cocoa for your API you use .mm files if I remember right. You can use Carbon its based on C/C++ but not sure if its still supported as well as Cocoa. ObjectiveC is nice and Cocoa is really nice to make apps in IMO better than Win32. I made a mapeditor in like one day with Cocoa and OpenGL. Granted it wasn't powerful but the framework was running. OpenGL is the only gfx API you can use. DX forget it. SDL works on Mac. If you want your code to run on both than you will need OpenGL and SDL would be a good choice. Cocoa isn't on windows AFAIK. Xcode is pretty good its more strict than VC++ when it comes to following ANSI standards. You will probably not have to worry about endianess issues if you go with an Intel Mac. I wouldn't get a PPC Mac for the future is Intel on Macs. All in all Macs are fun to code on and IMO you can get some coding done fast with Cocoa. I would make sure if you are going to get a Mac get a PowerMac with the Intel CPU or a Macbook with a x1600 videocard and Intel. The low end books have Intel crap integrated gfx card. And most likely you will want more out of it than it can do once you are up and running... HTH Oh idevgames if its still around is a good place also and apple developer connection is a good start also.   ;  I can probably help out here (I have & program on a mac).Previous post (as far as I can see) mentioned something about endianess -- well, this could be a problem. PowerPC based macs use the opposite to Intel -- hence, maybe a bit painful (PPC == Big-endian, Intel == little-endian).  Note that this is for x86 and clones though...I haven't read the specs on Core  -- the new Intel architecture -- to be sure, so tread carefully.Wiki for endianness:  EndiannessHowever, generally speaking -- Xcode is the IDE that MacOS ships with (yes, you get it with your OS if you get a powermac/macbook pro, how cool is that?) it includes: compilers/debuggers/etc.  Cool fact about it: if you are ever in an environment (say, computer lab) with many similarly set up macs, Xcode has built in (read: GUI support) distcc, the gnu distributed C/C++ compilation system!That said, I am personally not the -biggest- fan of X-code. It's a bit of a memory hog and tries to do so so much for a single program (handle -all- development on Mac for example) that it isn't as great as more targeted systems might be.  That said, there're not many alternatives :S.As far as languages go: yes, you can still use the C/C++ layer that Apple calls 'Carbon'.  OpenGL is the only choice you have out of D3D & OGL, so you're gonna have a bit of a transition to make if you want portability.  Sound? Well, OpenAL is all I ever used -- though there are other libraries around.  Cocoa: melange of Apple's own 'Objective-C' language (read, more object oriented and safe than C++, but slightly more difficult to understand unless you spend time using it) and Java (which is built into Cocoa API) -- you can write one or the other, and Apple's preferred dev platform is Cocoa right now so -- using Objective C is becoming much more needful -- though not wholly required.Finally...never used SDL on Mac -- it wasn't so great last I played with it (on OS X), but things have changed in the two years since then :)~Shiny.   ;  To comment on shinys post, you can use C++ with Cocoa just make sure you save your files as .mm which is ObjectiveC++. You will have to use a bit of ObjC when doing Cocoa but you can use C++ for all your other code.   ;  I'm also developing in OS X and am using SDL and OpenGL with no problems. Haven't switched to an Intel Mac yet though, so can't comment on that. I'm trying to keep everything easily portable and so am using pure C++ with no Objective-C, Cocoa, or Carbon, and doing all system-specific stuff through SDL. Xcode has some quirks but isn't too bad, but if you like you've always got Unix, gcc and the command line if you prefer.Like others I recommend idevgames.com for more Mac-specific advice.   ;Quote:Original post by jykI'm also developing in OS X and am using SDL and OpenGL with no problems. Haven't switched to an Intel Mac yet though, so can't comment on that. I'm trying to keep everything easily portable and so am using pure C++ with no Objective-C, Cocoa, or Carbon, and doing all system-specific stuff through SDL. Xcode has some quirks but isn't too bad, but if you like you've always got Unix, gcc and the command line if you prefer.Like others I recommend idevgames.com for more Mac-specific advice.You are correct in saying you are using C++ for your code, but SDL is written for Cocoa so your app will have ObjC and Cocoa code in it, its just hidden from you. :) But this is what I was saying to the OP that he can use C++ if he likes, whether its in SDL or straight Cocoa.   