MacHack PR: Developers’ Top 10 Issues
MacHack: The Annual Conference for Leading Edge Developers
c/o Expotech
1264 Bedford Road
Grosse Point Park, MI 48230
Contact: Carol Lynn
mailto:expotech@machack.com
Tel: (313) 882-1824
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dearborn, MI -- June 29, 1999 -- MacHack 14 has come and gone, but news continues to be made. Continuing a long tradition, MacHack has announced the Top Ten Issues that face Macintosh developers over the coming year.
The annual list is compiled from submissions made by MacHack attendees. These concerns then voted on and ranked based on relevance to these leading
edge developers. The list in order of import follows.
Top Ten Developer Issues
as characterized at MacHack 14
Developer issue #1 -- MacsBug support
MacsBug is a critical Macintosh development tool. Developers need Apple to dedicate engineering resources to this tool and to new ones like it.
Developer issue #2 -- Greater stability, easier debugging
Developers need increased reliability and greater ease in debugging software on Mac OS. Debug versions of frequently-used Mac OS routines that include stricter than-normal parameter checking and error trapping are always helpful. For example, EvenBetterBusError is a Mac extension which makes buggy applications more likely to fail during testing, and hence more likely to be fixed. Apple rolled this ability into MacsBug, but left it turned off by default. With the feature disabled, buggy code goes undiscovered and ships to customers. Software testers would like the feature turned on by default.
Developer issue #3 -- Mac OS X look and feel
Developers want Mac OS X to look like a Macintosh, not like a workstation.
Developer issue #4 -- Documentation improvements
Developers need technical documentation to be available sooner, and to be more complete, accurate, and accessible.
Developer issue #5 -- Better mouse and keyboard
Developers believe that high-end Macs need a better standard mouse and keyboard.
Developer issue #6 -- Machine differentiation for support needs
Developers need Macs to be more clearly-marked because support staffers need to easily identify users' machines. For example, currently there are three very different models of PowerBook G3 with extremely similar names. Support staffers have trouble with the current designations that distinguish models by the color of their case or keyboard.
Developer issue #7 -- Extending the OS
The "patching" mechanism for extending the Mac OS in unplanned ways is important for many reasons, including providing disability access. Developers need a similar mechanism in Mac OS X.
Developer issue #8 -- Cleaning up Mac OS
Developers believe that Mac OS would benefit from being further cleaned up. Removing vestigial code from the OS would improve memory footprint and performance including faster booting.
Developer issue #9 -- Java
Developers need a clear direction on Java. A commitment from Apple regarding support for Java and Java 2 would be greatly beneficial.
Developer issue #10 -- Open sourcing discontinued tools
Many developers still rely on tools that Apple no longer supports. Open sourcing such tools would allow developers to maintain and improve the tools they find essential.
These issues reflect the opinions of MacHack attendees as determined by
popular vote, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of
conference sponsors, employers of conference attendees, or Expotech, Inc.
MacHack 2000 will take place June 22-24, 2000, in Dearborn, Michigan.
MacHack is a registered trademark of Expotech, Inc. MacHack is not
affiliated with The MacHax Group, although the Hack Contest seems to keep
happening every year! Apple and NeXT are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective
holders.