Thursday, June 26, 2003

Core Mac OS X and Unix Programming Big Nerd Ranch was kind enough to send me a copy of their new book Core Mac OS X and Unix Programming in gratitude for editing the original Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X book. The book is effectively the course materials for the Big Nerd Ranch course of the same name. Co-authored by Mark Dalrymple and Aaron Hillegass, the book covers many advanced topics in the same clear/concise manner as Aaron's original Cocoa programming book. The book is focused on relatively advanced topics such as memory management, the run loop, multiple processes, rendezvous and many other topics. Instead of focusing on the high level details, each topic is investigated from the perspective of documenting the technical details-- often non-obvious-- through the use of examples, diagrams and discussions. Two bits that immediately grabbed my attention--and are examples of the approach found in the rest of the book-- where the discussion of malloc() behavior and the discussion of the run loop. In the case of malloc(), the book precisely discusses the fact that malloc() does not necessarily return the number of bytes that you think it does -- it often returns more based on certain internal optimizations. The end result is that quite a number of memory size reduction related optimizations are a complete waste of time! Instead, you might be able to consume a few extra bytes by not compressing the data structures and gain raw performance in terms of the # of CPU cycles needed to access the data. The discussion of the run loop was also of great interest. It clearly diagrams the run loop and the exact point during the run loop -- both CFRunLoop and NSRunLoop -- that the various events and timers will be handled. Excellent, excellent stuff. The $100 price tag is a bit higher than most developer books, but the content is of an advanced and highly refined nature. $100 is a heck of a lot cheaper than $3,500 -- the entrance fee to the class for which the book was written. Big Nerd Ranch has also made a set of resources and forums available online. 3:26:04 PM  pontificate