This is the third of three columns looking at Mac OS X, the "next-generation operating system" from Apple that's due in early 2001. In the previous two columns, we've looked at the user interface and the powerful new features the OS will offer. This time around we're looking at the engine of X, as well as the reasons why it has the potential to spawn new and powerful applications.
Darwin the Uber kernel
Mac OS X's engine--or core, if you prefer--is called Darwin, an aptly chosen moniker. Darwin is a modern kernel that offers, among other things, protected memory, pre-emptive multitasking, a Mach microkernel, and lots of power features previously only available to Unix users. (A kernel is a program that manages all or most of the operating-system services necessary to control a computer, such as task and file management, device input and output, and memory allocation. A microkernel is the program that manages a small but vital subset of the operating services, such as memory and synchronization.)
Apple has also posted the underlying programming source code of Darwin on its Web site. If developers submit to Apple's license agreement, they can download the source code from the Darwin Web site, change it, and include it in their own products without paying royalties or licensing fees.
However, developers must make their source-code modifications publicly available, and Apple can incorporate any changes into future versions of Mac OS X. By working with the open source community, Apple hopes to use licensee's tweaks and suggestions to enhance the feature set, performance, and quality of X products.
Another aspect of Mac OS X that should excite developers is its three principal programming environments: Carbon, Cocoa, and Java.
Mutating Carbon units
Carbon is an adaptation of the Mac OS 9 application programming interfaces (APIs) and libraries for Mac OS X. According to Apple, Carbon keeps 70 percent of the functions in current Mac OS APIs and dumps the 30 percent that are too outdated to be part of a modern operating system. To be more precise, Carbon keeps about 70 percent of the total functions and 95 percent of the functions used by typical applications. Carbon also includes additional APIs and services specifically developed for Mac OS X.
Programs written using the Carbon APIs can also be deployed on Mac OS 8 and 9, though they won't have the nifty new features of Mac OS X, such as protected memory, multithreading, and preemptive multitasking.
OpenStep morphs into Cocoa beans
While Carbon is the means by which most Mac developers will get their apps up to speed for Mac OS X, Cocoa is recommended by Apple for developers with new ideas who are creating applications for the future. The application environment is advanced, offers great reusability, and provides more rapid development, says Apple.
Cocoa is a collection of advanced, object-oriented APIs for developing applications written in Java and C++. It's based on two object-oriented frameworks: Foundation and the Apple Kit. These frameworks offer both Java and C++ APIs (with most Java classes simply "bridging" to their C++ implementation).
But enough techno-speak. What it boils down to is this: Cocoa is the most advanced object-oriented technology on the market today. Developers can write applications up to 10 times faster in Cocoa, according to Apple, so if you're writing a new app, this is the programming environment for you.
Cocoa is based on the OpenStep operating-system technology of NeXT (the company that Steve Jobs formed after leaving Apple, but which Apple later purchased when Jobs returned to the fold). Cocoa is an extension to the original OpenStep APIs that were present in OpenStep 4. Cocoa is a third-generation set of APIs, although few changes were involved in the evolution of OpenStep to Cocoa.
The nifty thing about Cocoa is that developers can use it to write code in terms of "objects" that let them re-use up to 90 percent of their code for future work. And functions published in the operating system as a "service" can be accessed by other Cocoa applications. For instance, a grammar checker in a word processing application could be offered as a service and used by other programs.
By the way, Cocoa includes Java packages that let you develop a Cocoa application using Java as the development language. Apple says you can mix "within reason" the APIs from these packages and native Java APIs.
Java peaberries
The Java environment within OS X is for the development and deployment of 100 percent Pure Java and mixed-API Java applications and applets. Developers can create Java apps that are "portable." You can copy them to a complete, different hardware platform and operating system. As long as that system includes a compatible version of the Java virtual machine (VM), the app should run on it just fine. And a Java applet should run in any Internet browser with the proper capabilities.
Mac OS X will come with a full implementation of Java 2, Standard Edition. And it will be the only high volume OS that does so, according to Chris Bourdon, Apple's product marketing manager for Mac OS X. "We realize that Sun has done great things with Java on the embedded and server sides of things. Now we want to round things out by having Java as a desktop product," he says. "We're working very closely with Sun to make a great implementation of Java on Mac OS X."
Apple is also making it possible for Java developers to adopt the Aqua interface for their applications so that they'll look just like Carbon applications, for instance. And Apple is also becoming part of the Java Executive Steering Committee that drives Java forward.
In that regard, the OS X/Java connection will affect almost all Mac users, because it will help bring a wider range of applications to Mac OS X. Bourdon says that higher-education customers--who often write programs for a variety of platforms--have been some of the most vocal Apple customers in clamoring for Java 2 support. Java support is also important to those who deal in a multiplatform environment and IT infrastructure. There's even an increasing interest in Java among the creative community, he adds.
Apple says that Mac OS X will let you copy or cut almost any piece of data and paste it into an application executing in another environment. And it allows dragging of most Finder objects--and their corresponding data--between most environments. In other words, Carbon, Cocoa, and Java will all interbreed and share information-and will do so transparently.
Classic will not be extinct
Finally, there's the Classic environment. This one isn't a programming environment, however. It's an emulator that lets you run applications that are compatible with Mac OS 9 in Mac OS X, even if they haven't been "Carbonized" (tweaked for X). Classic applications will also run transparently along with Carbon, Cocoa, and Java developed software-up to a point. Classic apps won't take advantage of protected memory, mutithreading, and other features of advanced operating systems.
The Classic environment runs Mac OS 9 in the background. What basically happens is that a copy of OS 9 is loaded alongside OS X. You can switch between the two just as you can switch between running applications. And if you're running lots of non-Carbonized, OS 9 apps, you can set up your Mac to run the Classic environment every time you start your Mac. When Classic support is enabled, an OS 9 logo is displayed in X's Dock (a utility that, among other things, shows you which programs are running), giving you access to shut down or restart the Classic emulator. Classic only supports Mac
OS 9; if your programs aren't OS 9-compatible, well, they ain't gonna run in X. Programs running in the Classic environment can read and write to an OS X hard drive just fine--and vice versa.
In future columns, I'll test Apple's claims regarding OS X and report any discrepancies.
Dennis Sellers also write Mac News monthly for ComputerUser.
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