Datasheet

The information in the Apple Human Interface Guidelines is quite extensive. It covers all the user inter-
face elements available within Mac OS X, such as windows, menus, controls, separators, text labels, and
icons. All Mac OS X programmers should be familiar with the Apple Human Interface Guidelines in
order to know what correct Aqua user interfaces are supposed to look like, and how they’re supposed
to behave.
Summary
You have seen how the major elements of Mac OS X come together on your computer. The applications
you use every day are but one element. These applications are built on application frameworks, system
services, and ultimately Mac OS X’s core operating system; all these pieces contribute to your applica-
tion experience. The high-level picture might look something like Figure 1-9.
Figure 1-9
In this chapter you learned
❑ How the Core OS, Core Graphics, and application libraries form the heart of the Mac OS X oper-
ating system
❑ How to use the Terminal application to access Mac OS X’s command-line interface
❑ How the Cocoa and Carbon application frameworks are organized
❑ How the Apple Human Interface Guidelines encourage a common look and feel across all
Mac OS X applications
In the next chapter, you learn about the developer resources bundled with Mac OS X. This includes tools
used during the development process, as well as online documentation and other resources. Before pro-
ceeding, you can use the exercises that follow to practice some of the things you learned in this chapter.
You can find the solutions to these exercises in Appendix A.
Applications
Aqua User Interface
Quartz Compositor
Command-
line Tools
System Library
Kernel
Cocoa Java JDKCarbon
Quartz 2D QuickTimeOpenGL
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The Mac OS X Environment
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