Learning Xcode for OSX

My journey into Xcode for OSX continues...

I've been going through a load of online tutorials for Xcode.  Most of them are aimed at iOS developers which have some applicability to me however there are some excellent OSX specific tutorials out there.  I found youtube tutorials particularly useful.  My favourites in the order I wished I'd found them were:

ProgrammingTutor0

MilmersXcode

Apple iDev

These were really good but I ended up buying some books - sometimes you can't beat the old fashioned media.  The three books I bought all proved really useful to work through some examples and to be an easy reference:

Note: above images link to Amazon and as an affiliate any purchases via these links earn me a little money

The first book is a great dip in and out reference, the second a great learn-by-doing tutorial introducing some pretty advanced topics like testing and 'pimp my UI'!  The 4th takes a learn-by-doing journey but starts with an iOS app development which is then ported over to Mac OSX to cover some specific topics.  This latter book is perhaps more than I need but a great approach to teaching the core topics used when developing iOS or OSX apps.  I prefer the books comprehensively cover set of topics to a certain level to allow the reader to develop the required skills in a carefully designed learning curriculum.  Concepts and practice combine to build up a solid springboard to the skills required to get on with your app development.  The youtube videos are great and thanks to the creators but they lack the comprehensive coverage of topics given by the edited and honed paper-based publications.

You are not just paying for a hard copy you are paying for a whole team designing a great approach to learning these skills.

All good books that I recommend if you're getting into Xcode/Apple App development and don't have the time to wade through lots of online tutorials.

Xcode and Quartz Composer

I'm trying to figure out how to develop applications for Mac OSX.  To start with I found Xcode which is available free from the App Store and allows you to develop applications for Mac, iPhone or iPad.

Apple Developer has a Xcode page that gives an overview and links to the App Store.
There is a good youTube video that shows you how to download Xcode from the App Store and create you first app for OSX.

I'm chiefly thinking about graphics and animation related applications and I was pointed towards Quartz Composer part of the Xcode environment the allows visual programming using connected blocks.  Apple Developer has a graphics and animation page.  I have a feeling Quartz 2D or its functions available through Xcode would be enough I decided to go with Quarz Composer (QC) because it offers more options w/r/t interactivity/dynamism for the end user; this is just a gut feel at the moment and besides QC is much more intuitive for me.  For a great introduction this youTube video teaches you how to create something with Quartz Composer.  

To access QC I had to sign up as an apple developer and download some extension to Xcode - this is all free...