Apple - Mac OS X - Features

New Features

Overview

Xcode is designed to keep you waiting less and coding more. Apple’s ground-breaking new approach to developer productivity streamlines all your most common and time-consuming tasks by fusing familiar user interface concepts with a unique mix of performance technologies in a complete Integrated Development Environment.

c, c++, javascript

Whether you’re writing your app in C, C++, Objective-C or Java, scripting in AppleScript or looking to migrate code from another legacy tool, you’ll find that Xcode is as quick to forgive as it is to compile. Fast and easy does it every time.

Xcode interface

Fast build
There are many good ways to build a Mac OS X application, but none faster than with Xcode. Because you spend lots of time compiling, you’ll realize a significant return in productivity resulting from Xcode’s compiler optimizations, which deliver significant performance improvements. And Xcode’s new “native” build system intelligently manages project dependencies, minimizing your pre-compile analysis of projects. All adding up to more rapid builds, faster turnarounds and higher developer productivity.

Fix and continue
Waiting for single-fix turnarounds — stop app, fix bug, compile changes, link objects, run app — is unquestionably the biggest hit to your productivity. But Xcode’s fix and continue feature gives you near-instant turnaround while debugging by letting you make changes to apps while they are still running. You simply make the edits, save the code, compile it and instantly see the change take effect in your application running live in the debugger.

Zero links, no waiting
While designing Xcode, Apple discovered the missing link for faster debugging — lose the links, or most of them. By linking only the object code needed to launch the application, instead of all the code, as in other development tools, Xcode dramatically reduces the debugging cycle. You spend less time waiting for builds and more time writing code.

Predictive compile
Compiling is a sink hole for code turnaround. Xcode steers you around the problem by staying one step ahead of you and the compiler, advance-compiling changes while you are still making them in source code. By the time you’ve saved your edits and started to recompile your app, the fix is in and the compiling is mostly complete.

Distributed build
Anyone could guess that bringing multiple processors to bear on a build would make it go much faster, but Xcode lets you act on the obvious solution. With the Rendezvous-enabled distributed build feature it’s easy to simply farm out your build by distributing compile workload across idle desktop machines or, better, deploy a dedicated Xserve build farm to do in minutes what would take hours on any single machine.

Smart Groups for smart developers
Taking a cue from iTunes’s Smart Playlists, Smart Groups, a powerful new project organizer in Xcode, lets you view project files filtered by custom rules. Built-in Smart Groups include file types, targets, warnings and errors, executables, project symbols and find results. You spend less time chasing fugitive files and more time implementing valuable features.

Fast Search
Fast Searching

Because you can’t fix what you can’t find, Xcode comes with a new pervasive search interface that uses live project indexing to yield instant results, with filter search refining results as you type. In line with Xcode’s reach for easy speed, the search feature stands up as the fastest, easiest way to navigate large projects.

Code completion
Xcode addresses the chronic time loss you experience searching code and documentation by putting function and variable names at your fingertips. A code completion feature suggests complete named elements — pulled from API documentation and the current project index — before you’ve finished typing them.

Item status at a glance
In the detail view, status icons for every visible project item give you intuitive, immediate access to project status data. Always at your disposal, never in your face.

Interface Builder

CodeWarrior import
Rapid, easy migration of CodeWarrior project files to Xcode is ensured by Xcode’s support for CodeWarrior-style project-relative references. The cost of transition from CodeWarrior to Xcode is lowered by Xcode’s compatibility with CodeWarrior-style inline assembly code, which enables developers to hand-tune performance-critical parts of their applications. Apple’s Integrated Development Environment for Mac OS X, Xcode provides project editing, search and navigation, file editing, project building and debugging facilities for all types of Mac OS X software projects.

It’s designed to facilitate development of applications, tools, frameworks, libraries, plug-in bundles, kernel extensions and device drivers. Xcode supports developers using C, C++, Objective C, AppleScript and Java.

Xcode works with numerous other tools available with Mac OS X, such as the integrated user interface construction application; compilers such as gcc, javac and jikes; and debuggers such as gdb.

Plus, the AppleScript Studio suite lets you add an Aqua interface to system and application scripts, command line utilities and Web applications. Combine all three for the most powerful scripting environment on any platform at any price.

For more information on Mac OS X development, including documentation, tools, sample code and technical support, visit the Apple Developer Connection.

Xcode
Technology Brief

Top New Panther Features

Finder Everything you need, just a click away.

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iChat AV Video conferencing for the rest of us.

FileVault Safe, secure, and speedy.

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iDisk Your online hard drive. Available offline.

Preview Tear through PDFs in no time.

Font Book Letter-perfect type management.

UNIX Mac OS X is based on rock-solid UNIX.

Xcode Ground-breaking new approach to developer productivity.

See the Video

Visit the Apple Store at the Grove, virtually, to see highlights of Panther’s new features.

Real-world compiler

Thousands of developers on dozens of platforms use gcc to create world class applications every day. Xcode includes the latest version, gcc 3.3, which provides performance gains as well as features that make it easier for developers to use Xcode. gcc 3.3 provides tools that let developer optimize applications for the massively parallel execution core of the G5 processor, keeping its 215 available inflight instructions fed with code.

Other enhancements, such as a familiar inline assembly model, ease the migration to Xcode. A familiar exception model helps traditional Mac developers mix Carbon and Cocoa frameworks. Developers migrating code from other platforms will appreciate the standards friendly features. No matter what your background, you’ll appreciate gcc 3.3 taking less time to generate your code than previous versions.

AppleScript and Xcode

AppleScript Studio.
Use AppleScript and Apple’s graphical development tools to quickly build rich, functional standalone native Mac OS X applications that take full advantage Aqua and Cocoa. Deliver polished solutions without ever learning C++.

Scriptable environment.
All actions in Xcode’s IDE are scriptable, letting you easily automate development processes and integrate custom build systems and other tools via Apple Events.

Optimize apps for PowerPC G5

Not only is Xcode the fastest way to develop applications for Mac OS X, it’s the easy way to optimize them for Apple’s new PowerPC G5 architecture. Xcode incorporates the machine model for the new generation processor, taking full advantage of the PowerPC instruction grouping and supporting the unique hardware math functions. (You might like the Power Mac G5 for generating code, too. It’s fast.)

More Info

Apple Developer Memberships — a complete suite of developer programs.

Getting Started — with Mac OS X Programming.