Now that summer newsstand shoppers, and the score of DDJrs with bloodhound in their ancestry, have had a chance to sniff out Dr. Dobb's Macintosh Special, I thought perhaps it was time to give--in Michael's words--"credit where credit is due."
I'll begin with a nod and a wink to my ol' buddy Tyler followed quickly with a deep bow of appreciation to writers Dan Allen and Tony Meadow for the loan of their considerable talent and their avid support of Mac programmers. Thanks to their efforts, a number of aspiring Mac programmers were able to see some in depth" Mac coverage under the DDJ banner--even if it is a trifle more entree than is customary for the good Doctor.
I also want to acknowledge the largely unsung efforts of Dave Lingwood, of the Apple Programmers and Developer's Association, and Dick Hubert, of its umbrella company, the A.P.P.L.E. Co-op, without whom much of the occult knowledge of programming for the Mac environment would have never made it out of the hallowed halls of Cupertino. In particular, I want to personally thank Frank Catalano, APDA's public relations manager, who channeled an unstinting flow of information in my direction, so that I, in turn, could pass it along to you.
I'd be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the continuing commitment of the collective body of vendors who create and improve the rich selection of programming tools available to Macintosh programmers. Borland, Coral, Icom, Jasik Designs, SmethersBarnes, and Think (now a division of Symantec), to name a few, offer some of the best development software available on any platform. Hot new programming tools and revised versions of already excellent programs hit the streets almost weekly.
And don't forget Apple, whose commitment to increasing the performance of the hardware and to developing high-level object-oriented programming languages and other software tools should continue to make writing programs for the Mac easier and quicker (well, it should).
Response from readers of Dr. Dobb's Macintosh Special has been overwhelmingly positive. A couple of days ago we even received a call from the president of the London Mac Users' Group offering kudos and asking for more. In fact, the most common comment was actually more of a question: "What took DDJ so long?"
I agree--DDJ should have done more to influence and support Mac programming. While we have devoted a smattering of coverage to the Mac since 1984 (Remember the "Fatten' Your Mac" article in January of '85--we still get requests for it.), DDJ has probably been remiss in drawing attention to programming issues that relate specifically to the Mac. What do you think? Let us know.
In what, I'm sure, comes as no surprise to David Smith and his MacTutor writers, interest in Mac programming is alive and well and growing like an apple rolling down a snowy hill. Competent Mac programmers are still a rare commodity, especially ones who can stretch the envelope to provide applications which exploit the Mac interface in ways that extend computers into novel application arenas.