On Tuesday, October 22, 2002, at 08:19 PM, Donald Keenan wrote: > Thanks Jeremy. Obviously, I've got to learn some basics here. > I just looked at a review of "Developing Cocoa Programs" and it > mentioned that an API is used to connect the programming language > (Objective C ?) to the OS. > So is a programming environment in part something of an interface for > the programmer to code with? Like a GUI and OS for authoring code? > Donald
APIs and programming environments are very similar. Essentially, an Environment is a grouping of a bunch of APIs. An API is a bunch of libraries (pre-canned code) are available to the programmer, so that they don't have to code every last bit of their app themselves. basically, instead of writing a couple dozen (or hundreds) lines of code that draw a window with 3 buttons in the middle, the programmer says: "draw_window(button1, button2, button3)" and the API handles the rest. without an API, a programmer would have to do everything manually. Most APIs and Environments are very specific about what languages can be used to program in them. Cocoa, for instance, allows programming in Objective C (similar to C++... kind of), Java, and AppleScript (after a fashion; that's what AppleScript Studio is all about). -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:G-Books@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:G-Books-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:G-Books-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lemlists.com> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
