If you have no good reason to use Java other than the fact that you've never used Objective C (eg this is a cross platform app), I'd go with Objective C for a native OS X app. There are some fundamental differences in Objective C (memory management, syntax, etc), but it's fairly easy to pick up if you're coming from Java - and it's quite nice to use, too, once you get the hang of it. Apple's dev tools (XCode and Interface Builder) are fairly robust at this point (I'd recommend Tiger and XCode 2.1) and help out a great deal with getting started.
Apple has fairly good documentation, too. Here's a quick Cocoa intro for Java devs: http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/JavaTutorial/chapter01/chapter_1_section_1.html Note the part that says "Keep in mind, however, that Java is not Cocoa's native language. To develop Cocoa applications that you intend to release to end users, you must use Objective-C. No Java interfaces for new Cocoa features will be added to Mac OS X versions after 10.4. " Hope that helps, Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "A. Kevin Baynes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Research Triangle Java User's Group mailing list." <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 10:03 AM Subject: [Juglist] Java and Cocoa > I'm nosing around the apple developer site and thinking about writing > a desktop app for OS X. I see that you can code in Cocoa using Java, > and being a Java developer that sounds inviting. > > Should I code in Cocoa using Objective-C or Java? It seems that > Objective-C is the 'default' Cocoa development language, which makes > me think that perhaps it is more tightly integrated with Cocoa. > Misapprehension? > > Of course, Java has a huge number of libraries available to make lots > of tasks easier, plus it's my primary development language. Though, > I'm sure writing a desktop app with Java in Cocoa will have some > additional challenges that may not apply when using Objective-C. > > Another alternative is to use pure Java, considering that the OS X has > really good Java support, but mainly I'm thinking about Cocoa at this > point. > > Have any Java developers travelled down this Cocoa + (Java || > Objective-C) road? Any directions for this pilgrim? > > ~akb > _________________ > A. Kevin Baynes > > _______________________________________________ > Juglist mailing list > [email protected] > http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org > > _______________________________________________ Juglist mailing list [email protected] http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org
