Mac OS X Panther for Unix Geeks, Second Edition

Chapter 8. Compiling Source Code

The Xcode Tools that ship with Panther provide a development environment for building applications with Cocoa, Carbon, Java, and even AppleScript. Xcode Tools include utilities that should be familiar to any Unix developer who works with command-line compilers. For details about obtaining these tools, see Xcode Tools in the Preface. Xcode Tools includes all sorts of other goodies, including an advanced Integrated Development Environment (IDE), but coverage of those tools is beyond the scope and intent of this book. To learn more about the Xcode Tools, you can see /Developer/Documentation/DeveloperTools/Tools.html.

The C compiler that comes with Xcode is based on the Free Software Foundation’s GNU Compiler Collection, or GCC. Apple has added an Objective-C compiler, as well as various modifications to deal with the Darwin operating system. The development environment in Mac OS X includes:

AppleScript

This is an English-like language used to script applications and the operating system. AppleScript is installed as part of the Mac OS X operating system and does not require Xcode. Instead, to write AppleScripts, use the Script Editor (/Applications/AppleScript).

AppleScript Studio

This is a high-level development environment based on AppleScript that allows you to build GUI applications by hooking AppleScript into the Cocoa frameworks. If you plan to build AppleScript Studio applications, you will need to use the Xcode Tools instead of the Script Editor. ...