One of the problems with developing something new for a new platform is knowing just what to do. As a long time Windows developer, I know what I want to achieve, but don't know how to achieve it. It's very frustrating.
I started out fixing this with a Mac app template project, which proved very instructional but didn't really reflect a real world application. So I created a second in Mac application, based on a more realistic app. Doing this gave more insight into what it was that I didn't know.
My first app is now at a stage where I have built a working application with the majority of the functionality it needs to operate. Along the way, I had many challenges to overcome. Some relatively simple and some rather complex. This section is intended to document some of these challenges and the solutions I came up with.
Along the way, I may well come up with other stuff that I need to document be it Macos, iOS or anything else. I'll add those in as and when.
When your view contains data that has to be manually saved (to a file for example), it is critical to know if your app is terminated or the window is closed. I found that out the hard way by making multiple edits to a file and promptly losing them all when I closed the window without saving!
As a rule, changes in the data should be sufficient to trigger changes in our views. However, there are times when this mechanism does not work as smoothly as we need it to and it is useful to be able to notify our application that something has happened.
There is a lot available to us in SwiftUI. If, however, you want to deal with files and folders, you’re going to have to resort to appKit as your API of choice. Not all Mac applications are going to need to interact with files selected by the user, so it may not be a problem. However, if you want to open a file, save (as) a file or select a folder, you’re out of luck with SwiftUI.
There is a lot available to us in SwiftUI. If, however, you want to deal with files and folders, you’re going to have to resort to appKit as your API of choice. Not all Mac applications are going to need to interact with files selected by the user, so it may not be a problem. However, if you want to open a file, save (as) a file or select a folder, you’re out of luck with SwiftUI.
Mac desktop applications have menus, many of which are generated for us automatically when we create a new application from the template. Sadly, they’re often overlooked and rarely documented in the courses I have looked at for Mac and SwiftUI.
Don't take my word for my abilities, take a look at other peoples opinions about me.
One very quickly runs out of superlatives with Steve. He is the cleverest person I know. He is highly innovative, passionate regarding the proper maintenance of agreed standards and protocols and establishes excellent relationships with our clients.
Steve is a rare developer resource who is able to provide a good breakdown of technical solutions for all audiences to understand... Steve understands the importance of project deliverable's both from a client and business perspective and shows a personal pride in ensuring the delivery schedules are met.
I have worked closely with Steve for his time with us and long before we formed our company. His technical ability far out-performs anyone I have known or met in companies we have worked with like IBM/EDS/Cap Gemini
Steven showed a great deal of commitment and skill when he worked with me. His attention to detail, comprehensive documentation and well thought out code, using very impressive technical standards meant that it was always possible to rely on the solutions provided being top notch. Steven is an asset to any company, at any level - if I were able to, I'd love to work with him again.
I have had the pleasure of working with Steven for several years in my role as CTO. He his one to the most multi-disciplined technically skilled developers I have known but what sets him apart is his eye for, and attention to detail, particularly when considering the user experience. I would absolutely not hesitate in recommending Steven.