Cocoa® Programming for Mac OS® X For Dummies®

Chapter 3. Xcode

In This Chapter

• Jumping headfirst into Xcode

• Customizing the Xcode window

• Adjusting the settings for your project

• Editing source code with Xcode

• Debugging your Cocoa projects to remove errors

• Using the built-in Help features of Xcode

• Building an application from your project

Cocoa programming requires the use of some sophisticated development tools. Chief among these is Xcode. With Xcode, you can manage your Cocoa projects: write code, assemble, organize, and test your project, and finally build an application that you can run on any Mac OS X computer.

Xcode is the main component of Apple's integrated development environment (IDE). Xcode has everything you need for managing Cocoa projects, editing and debugging source code, and building applications. As you discover the different features of Xcode, you'll continue to improve on the calculator project you created in Chapter 2. By the end of this chapter, you'll have a calculator application that has improved functionality and is free of bugs. These two goals are what all professional programmers want from their software, and Xcode can help you achieve them.

Note

If you didn't build the simple calculator in Chapter 2, you can find the project files for this chapter on the For Dummies Web site at www.dummies.com/go/cocoafd. The chapter starts with the My First Project file.

Xcode: The Core of Apple's Development Tools

Because Xcode is a first-class development tool, its collection of windows, menus, and settings can look daunting ...