Cocoa(R) Programming for Mac(R) OS X (3rd Edition)

Probably the most popular book on Cocoa programming. A somewhat more gentle (but less in-depth) introduction than "Cocoa Programming" by Scott Anguish et al. More of a tutorial and guide than a reference work. Published in 2001, it is probably starting to fall out of date a bit, but most of the changes in OS X 10.2 and 10.3 versus 10.1 will not affect the typical beginner much. It sounds like the next edition, out soon, will update it well; it might be worth waiting for that.

I was sooo close to buying this book, and then found out a new edition is due out this month. Looks like I'll need to wait a week or two to get my copy. My guess is that, in addition to other changes, the book will use Xcode instead of Project Builder in the examples.

I've never had the privilege of attending Aaron's highly-regarded 'Big Nerd Ranch' training program, but I have to believe that working through this book is the next best thing. The book is presented in tutorial form, with a nice flow between examples, discussion and exercises.

The author doesn't hesitate to share his opinions, good or bad--particularly on subjects like Cocoa Java. The result is a frank, incisive introduction to Cocoa programming that helps beginners understand 'the right way' to do things, and will make Apple's object-oriented environment accessible to people with a wide variety of skill levels.

This is an excellent book. I looked at some of the others and bought these too. Most are very good; but this IS the definitive guide.

It gets you writing Cocoa straight away, so you do it, it gets explained, and reinforced. I like this approach.

It also emphasizes the need to have a good grip on Objective-C, which I think is vital. It provides a good introduction to Objective-C, Obeject Oriented Programming and Cocoa.

I liked the book so much that I now buy any book by this author.

After tediously working through two O'Reilly books on Cocoa programming, I bought this book based on review recommendations. I was confused through both O'Reilly books, but Hillegass finally made sense. This book is solid, and made me feel like I was accomplishing learning throughout the book. Hillegass uses great analogies, informative history tidbits, and well thought out examples. Additionally, he puts in programming challenges at the end of many chapters that give the student a new goal to use information learned in the chapter. In short, Hillegass is a great TEACHER, a qualification often lacking in other programming books.