On Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:38 PM, Chunk 1978 <chunk1...@gmail.com> wrote: > ok... so an API is like a lower level framework? wikipedia states > that Carbon and Cocoa are APIs on Mac, but i always thought those were > frameworks.
They are both! API stands for Application Programming Interface. "Interface" is the key word. An API is not something that actually does work, it's just an interface. In terms of a crappy metaphor, the API is the menu, and the framework is the restaurant. The API tells you what's available and what the stuff does, and then the framework is what actually does the work. For example, look at the NSString documentation. It lists a bunch of methods, and tells you what they do. That is the NSString API. By itself that is useless, of course. The Cocoa framework contains the NSString *implementation* which actually makes the API do stuff. MIke _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to arch...@mail-archive.com
