A self-paced guide to learning AppleScript, Apple’s popular and useful system-level scripting language. Co-written as part of the Apple Training Series with the long-time product manager for automation technologies at Apple, the legendary Sal Soghoian.

In Sal’s own words from the Foreword: “But the task of documenting and teaching a technology such as AppleScript is daunting…, and it could not have been accomplished without the assistance and contribution of an exceptional individual with laser-like focus and deep knowledge of AppleScript: Bill Cheeseman. A lawyer of considerable renown, Bill leads a double-life as a talented programmer who has written extensively on the subject. He also is a master scripter and someone who I’ve learned from time and again.” Click here for information about QSW_UUID.

Visit Peachpit’s website to read the Finding Scriptable Objects chapter. Also, read the first chapter and watch a video of Sal covering much of the material in it on the Mac OS X Automation website.

Apple Training Series: AppleScript 1-2-3

Cocoa Recipes for Mac OS X: The Vermont Recipes (Second Edition)

Bill Cheeseman
Peachpit Press 2010

A practical, no-nonsense, hands-on, step-by-step tutorial, walking you through the details of building a complete Cocoa application for Mac OS X from start to finish using the Objective-C programming language. Written for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

The original Web-based version of The Vermont Recipes was written for the Developer Preview version of Mac OS X 10.0. It was published in 2000 on the Stepwise website, and many Cocoa developers first learned how to write applications for Mac OS X using The Vermont Recipes. The first edition was subsequently published in printed book form in 2003 by Peachpit Press. The second edition, released on March 26, 2010, is a complete rewrite with all-new content.

In addition to thorough coverage of the common steps needed to write any Mac OS X Cocoa application, The Vermont Recipes includes extensive material available nowhere else showing you how to add more advanced features such as printing using new APIs introduced in Leopard, Help books using new APIs introduced in Snow Leopard, and AppleScript support.