Discusses the principles of programming any of the machines in the Apple Macintosh family of computers, including event-driven programming, memory management, file management, and use of specialized software.

This second edition covers the many new and exciting developments in the Macintosh technology, including System 7, QuickTime, and the Macintosh Quadra and PowerBook. It offers an overview of the user interface, the system software, communications, and program development environments.

The Macintosh Family Hardware Reference provides the most accurate and complete information on the hardware configurations for all Macintosh computers, including the Macintosh II and the Macintosh SE.

While there are several books on programming for Mac OS X, Advanced Mac OS X Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide is the only one that contains explanations of how to leverage the powerful underlying technologies. This book gets down to the real nitty-gritty. The third edition is updated for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 and covers new technologies like DTrace, Instruments, Grand Central Dispatch, blocks, and NSOperation.