Apple Developer Tools
This article needs to be updated.(September 2012) |
Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
---|---|
Stable release | 3.1 (1096)
/ April 2008 |
Operating system | macOS |
Type | IDE |
Website | Apple Developer |
The Apple Developer Tools are a suite of software tools from Apple to aid in making software dynamic titles for the macOS and iOS platforms. The developer tools were formerly included on macOS install media, but are now exclusively distributed over the Internet. As of macOS 10.12, Xcode is available as a free download from the Mac App Store.
Applications
Applet Launcher
A graphical interface for JavaScript's Plug-in, which aids developers by demonstrating how Java applets perform on macOS. Provides tools to adjust the performance, behavior and user experience in applets in development.
Audio Unit Lab
A graphic presentation of audio units helping software developers to examine their results in decibels. AU Lab can be used to test audio units, conduct live mixing, and playback of audio content. Audio units are controlled visually with the audio unit's graphic interface and touch screen.[citation needed]
Computer Hardware Understanding Development Tools
A set of software tools, collectively Computer Hardware Understanding Development Tools (CHUD Tools) measure software performance on macOS, to aid in optimizing. Also provides hardware system benchmarks.
Core Image Fun House
Used in testing Core Image units, which function similar to Adobe Photoshop filters. Each has a specific action, with parameters customize the action. Showcases Core Image, a technology introduced in Mac OS X 10.4, supported by newer graphic hardware.
CrashReporterPrefs
A developer utility for setting report parameters for Apple's
- Basic: Shows a dialog asking the user what to do.
- Developer: Provides additional debug info and automatically shows the mail to Apple window.
- Server: Runs silent, but keeps all the logs.
- None: Disables the dialog prompt. Crash reports are neither displayed nor logged.
FileMerge
A staple of macOS's developer tools since the days of NeXTSTEP, FileMerge graphically compares two or more versions of a file. True to its name, FileMerge allows the user to easily merge the two or more versions into one file. The utility is often used to track changes to source code.
macOS's opendiff command provides the ability to launch FileMerge from the command line. The -ancestor parameter can be used for
Help Indexer
Creates an
icns Browser
Views the resources for an
Icon Composer
Icon Composer was an
Instruments
Jar Bundler
MallocDebug
Assistance for assessing memory usage and detecting
Assesses an application's memory usage by monitoring a user as they interact with an application, which allows MallocDebug to build a memory profile that unfortunately is limited in size.
OpenGL Driver Monitor
Real time access to the inner workings of the graphics processing unit. Runs locally or over a network using Bonjour which is less likely to interfere with the statistics it is gathering with the exception of some disk fragmentation devices.
OpenGL Profiler
This tool assists developers in debugging and optimizing OpenGL usage under macOS.
Supported features:
- Launch or attach to an application
- Breakpoints and execution control
- Error detection including thread safety checks
- Scripts
- Buffer views
- Resource viewing/editing
- Statistics gathering
- OpenGL call traces with stack traces and timings
OpenGL Shader Builder
An integrated environment to develop and debug
Features supported by OpenGL Shader Builder:
- Realtime entry
- Preview window with shaders applied to a textured plane, sphere or teapot
- Example shaders
- Syntax checking
- Debugging and analysis of vertex / fragment programs
- Export to Xcode
One notable feature is 'Export to Xcode'. A sample Xcode project is created with C source code to initialize OpenGL (using the GLUT library) and run the shader program.
Note that this program is no longer recommended for editing GLSL shaders as "GLSLEditorSample," available as an example program, is generally regarded as superior.
PackageMaker
Creates application .pkg
installer
Pixie
A
Property List Editor
Edits application preference
Quartz Composer
A visual programming language for processing and rendering data. Using OpenGL, Core Image, Core Video, and other technologies to build an API and serves as a simple visual programming paradigm. Quartz Composer is a core technology of the macOS. Quartz Composer creations work in any QuickTime-aware application (beginning with Mac OS X 10.4), from the Quartz Composer application, or embedded into Cocoa or Carbon applications.
Quartz Composer has many similarities to
Pierre-Olivier Latour originally developed the predecessor to Quartz Composer under the name PixelShox Studio.[3]
A resurgence in interest in Quartz Composer has come about, as the
Repeat After Me
Optimizes the performance of the built-in
Shark
Shark is a
Spin Control
Spin Control is a performance tool used for monitoring hang activity in software programs. The program gets its name from the spinning pinwheel on macOS.[5]
Discontinued as of Xcode 4.2.
Thread Viewer
Thread Viewer is a performance
Xcode
Xcode is an
References
- ^ Questions. "macos - Where did Icon Composer go from Xcode? - Ask Different". Apple.stackexchange.com. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
- ^ "Track CPU core and thread use- Instruments Help". Archived from the original on 2020-06-20.
- ^ http://www.polhosting.info/web-archives/pixelshox_technology/ Archived 2017-01-29 at the Wayback Machine PixelShox Technology
- ^ "Design Prototyping with Quartz Composer". Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ "Using Spin Control".
External links
- Connection Tools – official site at Apple Inc.