CodeWarrior 9 resources?

[iantm]

I've always wanted to dig deeper into coding for the classic Mac. Never done it.. Spent my career on high-level front end Javascript/Python stuff, only scratching the surface of any assembly or lower level code.

I like the Macintosh C Toolbox Primer. I'm enjoying slowing down and learning. Is there something like it for CodeWarrior, or any of there resources that you'd recommend getting started? Assume I really know nothing specifically about the Mac.

I'm interested in targeting System 7.1 – 7.5.

 

[joevt]

CodeWarrior Pro 6 was the last version of CodeWarrior to support 68K targets.
CodeWarrior Pro 4 was the last to run on 68K hardware?
CodeWarrior 11 is also an important version.
Some other notes:

Metrowerks CodeWarrior Best Version and Updates

There are a number of threads on this forum regarding present-day development with Metrowerks CodeWarrior. I have a couple of projects in mind, but first need to select a development environment. Historically, I began with Lightspeed C on a Mac SE and continued through Symantec C 7.0.5 / 8.0.3...

68kmla.org

I don't think CodeWarrior has documentation on Mac programming. It has documentation on targeting Mac 68K and PPC and such.
CodeWarrior comes with Metrowerks PowerPlant which is a bunch of C++ classes for doing UI stuff for building Mac applications.
CodeWarrior comes with example source code.

 

[joevt]

Also this thread is interesting for really old Mac system software:
https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/writi...-os-system-1-using-codewarrior-gold-11.47511/

 

[SitesOnFire]

While not using CodeWarrior, I've gotten to grips with coding on my Macintosh Classic using Think C

There are various books here.

Vintage Apple

I also heavily recommend jcs' website as a resource.

Series: C Programming on System 6 - joshua stein

along with his project amend hub which has lots of source code to read over, and is a great version control system.
https://amendhub.com/

I've been using his MacTCP code as a reference while developing my own software.

While coding on real hardware is fun, using an emulator can be much quicker, and I can do it on the couch with my mbp.
https://snowemu.com/

If you're into talking to an AI for help, I've found Claude much more knowledgable than Chat GPT when asking questions about ANSI C or the Macintosh Toolbox.

I've come from TypeScript & Java, all I can say is prepare to move much slower than you're used to, and many crashes.

 

[iantm]

Thanks all! I’ll see what I think of CW pro 4. I like Think C for its simplicity, but I miss the complete lack of syntax coloring. Even a little for keywords would help.
I have been using Claude to tutor me. It’s been really helpful in explaining everything as I go pretty much line by line.

I’d been using both my se/30 and Mac but I hadn’t heard of snow, I’ll try that out too!

 

[SitesOnFire]

If you're planning of coding directly on classic hardware, or an emulated classic macintosh, the output will be black and white so syntax colouring won't exist It's a massive mindset change to go from a modern IDE to a very small screen which may not even fit the entire method in the screen.

I also forgot to mention that Think C comes with Think C Reference Database, which is a searchable database for coding on a classic mac. Forum member @eric has also made it available online here http://129.158.56.21/thinkc/

 

[iantm]

I prefer the small screen, actually, for its focus. Maybe at some point I'll cave and try and run CW on my G4, or Retro68. For now I really enjoy the limitations of the small screen. Since I have a color and/or grayscale display in my SE/30(s) I was hoping some IDE might support it.

The debugging loop in THINK C is a little tedious at times too, but having never used CodeWarrior I don't know if that's just how it is. If CW doesn't have syntax coloring at all, either, then that's just how we'll have to do it!

 

[SitesOnFire]

A colour Se/30 sounds like an awesome rig.