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Explaining the history and evolution of OS X, with emphasis on its NeXTSTEP/Rhapsody origin. A summary of technological features in each of the OS versions, focusing in depth on features in Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6.x)
- What is OS X?
- NeXTSTEP origins
- OS X versions
- Important features in each OS
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| 2. |
OS X architecture |
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2 hours |
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An overview of the OS X layered architecture, top to bottom. From the "User Experience" layer (the Aqua Window Manager), to the XNU kernel. We discuss:
- OS X architectural layers
- Application Frameworks - Cocoa, Carbon and Java
- Core Frameworks - Core Audio/Video/.. and Core Foundation
- Darwin - the UNIX shell
- XNU - The Mach/BSD hybrid Kernel
- I/O Kit - The Device Driver framework
- How is iOS different?
- OS X on ARM (iPhone) and Apple SOC (iPad/iPhone 4) architectures
- Springboard and backboardd
- lockdown and the house keeping daemons
- Jailbroken iOS
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Detailed discussion of OS X Darwin environment, its similarities and differences from traditional UN*X systems:
- The standard UN*X Filesystem
- OS X additional directories
- OS X binaries (Mach-O) and binutils
- OS X processes
- Quick overview of useful command line utilities
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| 4. |
Mac Hardware |
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0.5 hours |
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Brief overview of Apple's ever changing hardware landscape. Focusing on all Mac models, in their past and current incarnations:
- Models:
- iMac
- MacBook
- MacBook Pro
- Mac Mini
- Mac Pro
- System Profiler
- I/O Registry Explorer
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| 5. |
The Mac Boot Sequence |
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2 hours |
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This module discusses the boot sequence on Mac hardware. Contrary to standard PCs, which use the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), Mac hardware uses (on x86/x64) Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). We discuss the boot sequence, from the second the computer is turned on, including:
- The EFI architecture
- EFI vs. BIOS
- EFI runtime services
- EFI protocols
- Booting the Kernel
- User Mode boot: Init (pre 10.4) and launchD
- Daemons and Agents
- Adding Custom Daemons agents
- Startup Items
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| 6. |
Introducing - XCode |
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2 hours |
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XCode is Apple's (still) free development environment for OS X and for "iOS" (iPhone/iPad). More than a standard IDE, it comes packed with many powerful tools for performance and diagnostics. We discuss the environment, as well as those tools:
- XCode - writing a sample project in C, C++, and/or Objective C
- The Performance tools:
Exercises include:
- Profiling an application with Instruments and Shark
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| 7. |
POSIX threads on OS X |
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1-2 hours |
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Discussing the OS X implementation of POSIX threads. We explain POSIX threads in varying level of detail (depending on past student experience). We demonstrate a simple multi-threaded exercise, with basic synchronization mechanisms (Mutexes, rwlocks, and condition variables)
Exercises include:
- Creating and profiling a sample multithreaded application demonstrating full pthread_API
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| 8. |
Alternative to Threads |
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2 hours |
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Introducing OS X's latest and greatest features in Snow Leopard (10.6):
- Why seek alternatives?
- The Grand Central Dispatcher
- Blocks and functions
- Dispatcher Queues
- Completion Blocks
- Dispatch sources
- Open CL - Truly parallel programming on CPUs and GPUs
- What is Open CL?
- Writing your first Open CL program
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| 9. |
Network programming in OS X |
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3 hours |
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Contrasting the traditional BSD socket API with the OS X CFNetwork wrappers
- Socket Programming - refresher
- CFNetwork and CFSocket
- NSURL
- WebKit
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| *. |
Introduction to Objective-C (Optional) |
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3 hours |
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Introduction to Objective-C 2.0, with the aim of getting the student to be able to read and decipher sometimes-not-so-easy-to-read Objective-C code samples.
Exercises include:
- Some quick Objective-C samples - from "Hello, world", to a fully working Cocoa application
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