It's certainly possible to develop on a Windows machine, in fact, my first application was exclusively developed on the old Dell Precision I had at the time :)
There are three routes;
- Install OSx86 (aka iATKOS / Kalyway) on a second partition/disk and dual boot.
- Run Mac OS X Server under VMWare (Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) onwards, read the update below).
- Use Delphi XE4 and the macincloud service. This is a commercial toolset, but the component and lib support is growing.
The first route requires modifying (or using a pre-modified) image of Leopard that can be installed on a regular PC. This is not as hard as you would think, although your success/effort ratio will depend upon how closely the hardware in your PC matches that in Mac hardware - e.g. if you're running a Core 2 Duo on an Intel Motherboard, with an NVidia graphics card you are laughing. If you're running an AMD machine or something without SSE3 it gets a little more involved.
If you purchase (or already own) a version of Leopard then this is a gray area since the Leopard EULA states you may only run it on an "Apple Labeled" machine. As many point out if you stick an Apple sticker on your PC you're probably covered.
The second option is more costly. The EULA for the workstation version of Leopard prevents it from being run under emulation and as a result, there's no support in VMWare for this. Leopard server, however, CAN be run under emulation and can be used for desktop purposes. Leopard server and VMWare are expensive, however.
If you're interested in option 1) I would suggest starting at Insanelymac and reading the OSx86 sections.
I do think you should consider whether the time you will invest is going to be worth the money you will save though. It was for me because I enjoy tinkering with this type of stuff and I started during the early iPhone betas, months before their App Store became available.
Alternatively, you could pick up a low-spec Mac Mini from eBay. You don't need much horsepower to run the SDK and you can always sell it on later if you decide to stop development or buy a better Mac.
Update: You cannot create a Mac OS X Client virtual machine for OS X 10.6 and earlier. Apple does not allow these Client OSes to be virtualized. With Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) onwards, Apple has changed its licensing agreement in regards to virtualization. Source: VMWare KnowledgeBase
There isn't, as others have already said, such a thing as a private method in Objective-C. However, starting in Objective-C 2.0 (meaning Mac OS X Leopard, iPhone OS 2.0, and later) you can create a category with an empty name (i.e. @interface MyClass ()
) called Class Extension. What's unique about a class extension is that the method implementations must go in the same @implementation MyClass
as the public methods. So I structure my classes like this:
In the .h file:
@interface MyClass {
// My Instance Variables
}
- (void)myPublicMethod;
@end
And in the .m file:
@interface MyClass()
- (void)myPrivateMethod;
@end
@implementation MyClass
- (void)myPublicMethod {
// Implementation goes here
}
- (void)myPrivateMethod {
// Implementation goes here
}
@end
I think the greatest advantage of this approach is that it allows you to group your method implementations by functionality, not by the (sometimes arbitrary) public/private distinction.
Best Solution
There's a far more convenient way to trace with log messages in Xcode, and that's using Breakpoint Actions.
On the line of code where you'd be tempted to add a printf or NSLog, set a breakpoint, then control-click it and choose "Edit Breakpoint". In the blue bubble that appears, click the + button on the right to open the Breakpoint Actions: alt text http://idisk.mac.com/cdespinosa/Public/Breakpoint%20Actions.png
Enter your log text there. Any expression that can be printed in the Debugger can be used when delimited by @ signs.
For debugging Objective-C it's generally more useful to choose "Debugger Command" from the popup and enter 'po [[object method] method]' to print the description string of an Objective-C object or the result of a method call.
Make sure to click the "Continue" checkbox at the top right so execution continues after the log.
Advantages of this over NSLog and printf:
Also check out the Speak button; it's great for debugging full-screen apps where you can't see the debug log.