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+
+/*!
+ \page developing-on-mac.html
+ \title Developing Qt Applications on Mac OS X
+ \brief A overview of items to be aware of when developing Qt applications
+ on Mac OS X
+ \ingroup platform-specific
+
+ \tableofcontents
+
+ Mac OS X is a UNIX platform and behaves similar to other Unix-like
+ platforms. The main difference is X11 is not used as the primary windowing
+ system. Instead, Mac OS X uses its own native windowing system that is
+ accessible through the Carbon and Cocoa APIs. Application development on
+ Mac OS X is done using Xcode Tools, an optional install included on every
+ Mac with updates available from \l {http://developer.apple.com}{Apple's
+ developer website}. Xcode Tools includes Apple-modified versions of the GCC
+ compiler.
+
+
+ \section1 What Versions of Mac OS X are Supported?
+
+ As of Qt 4.6, Qt supports Mac OS X versions 10.4 and up. It is usually in
+ the best interest of the developer and user to be running the latest
+ updates to any version. We test internally against Mac OS X 10.4.11 as well
+ as the updated release of Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6.
+
+ \section2 Carbon or Cocoa?
+
+ Historically, Qt has used the Carbon toolkit, which supports 32-bit
+ applications on Mac OS X 10.4 and up. Qt 4.5 and up has support for the Cocoa
+ toolkit, which requires 10.5 and provides 64-bit support.
+
+ This detail is typically not important to Qt application developers. Qt is
+ cross-platform across Carbon and Cocoa, and Qt applications behave
+ the same way when configured for either one. Eventually, the Carbon
+ version will be discontinued. This is something to keep in mind when you
+ consider writing code directly against native APIs.
+
+ The current binary for Qt is built in two flavors, 32-bit Carbon and full
+ universal Cocoa (32-bit and 64-bit). If you want a different setup for
+ Qt will use, you must build from scratch. Carbon or Cocoa is chosen when
+ configuring the package for building. The configure process selects Carbon
+ by default, to specify Cocoa use the \c{-cocoa} flag. configure for a
+ 64-bit architecture using one of the \c{-arch} flags (see \l{universal
+ binaries}{Universal Binaries}).
+
+ Currently, Apple's default GCC compiler is used by default (GCC 4.0.1 on
+ 10.4 and 10.5, GCC 4.2 on 10.6). You can specify alternate compilers
+ though. For example, on Mac OS X 10.5, Apple's GCC 4.2 is also available
+ and selectable with the configure flag: \c{-platform macx-g++42}. LLVM-GCC
+ support is available by passing in the \c{-platform macx-llvm} flag. GCC
+ 3.x will \e not work. Though they may work, We do not support custom-built
+ GCC's.
+
+ The following table summarizes the different versions of Mac OS X and what
+ capabilities are used by Qt.
+
+ \table
+ \header
+ \o Mac OS X Version
+ \o Cat Name
+ \o Native API Used by Qt
+ \o Bits available to address memory
+ \o CPU Architecture Supported
+ \o Development Platform
+ \row
+ \o 10.4
+ \o Tiger
+ \o Carbon
+ \o 32
+ \o PPC/Intel
+ \o Yes
+ \row
+ \o 10.5
+ \o Leopard
+ \o Carbon
+ \o 32
+ \o PPC/Intel
+ \o Yes
+ \row
+ \o 10.5
+ \o Leopard
+ \o Cocoa
+ \o 32/64
+ \o PPC/Intel
+ \o Yes
+ \row
+ \o 10.6
+ \o Snow Leopard
+ \o Cocoa/Carbon
+ \o 32
+ \o PPC/Intel
+ \o Yes
+ \row
+ \o 10.6
+ \o Snow Leopard
+ \o Cocoa
+ \o 64
+ \o Intel
+ \o Yes
+ \endtable
+
+ Note that building for ppc-64 is not supported on 10.6.
+
+ \section2 Which One Should I Use?
+
+ Carbon and Cocoa both have their advantages and disadvantages. Probably the
+ easiest way to determine is to look at the version of Mac OS X you are
+ targetting. If you are starting a new application and can target 10.5 and
+ up, then please consider Cocoa only. If you have an existing application or
+ need to target earlier versions of the operating system and do not need
+ access to 64-bit or newer Apple technologies, then Carbon is a good fit. If
+ your needs fall in between, you can go with a 64-bit Cocoa and 32-bit
+ Carbon universal application with the appropriate checks in your code to
+ choose the right path based on where you are running the application.
+
+ For Mac OS X 10.6, Apple has started recommending developers to build their
+ applications 64-bit. The main reason is that there is a small speed
+ increase due to the extra registers on Intel CPU's, all their machine
+ offerings have been 64-bit since 2007, and there is a cost for reading all
+ the 32-bit libraries into memory if everything else is 64-bit. If you want
+ to follow this advice, there is only one choice, 64-bit Cocoa.
+
+ \target universal binaries
+ \section1 Universal Binaries
+
+ In 2006, Apple begin transitioning from PowerPC (PPC) to Intel (x86)
+ systems. Both architectures are supported by Qt. The release of Mac OS X
+ 10.5 in October 2007 added the possibility of writing and deploying 64-bit
+ GUI applications. Qt 4.5 and up supports both the 32-bit (PPC and x86) and
+ 64-bit (PPC64 and x86-64) versions of PowerPC and Intel-based systems.
+
+ Universal binaries are used to bundle binaries for more than one
+ architecture into a single package, simplifying deployment and
+ distribution. When running an application the operating system will select
+ the most appropriate architecture. Universal binaries support the following
+ architectures; they can be added to the build at configure time using the
+ \c{-arch} arguments:
+
+ \table
+ \header
+ \o Architecture
+ \o Flag
+ \row
+ \o Intel, 32-bit
+ \o \c{-arch x86}
+ \row
+ \o Intel, 64-bit
+ \o \c{-arch x86_64}
+ \row
+ \o PPC, 32-bit
+ \o \c{-arch ppc}
+ \row
+ \o PPC, 64-bit
+ \o \c{-arch ppc64}
+ \endtable
+
+ If there are no \c{-arch} flags specified, configure builds for the 32-bit
+ architecture, if you are currently on one. Universal binaries were initially
+ used to simplify the PPC to Intel migration. You can use \c{-universal} to
+ build for both the 32-bit Intel and PPC architectures.
+
+ \note The \c{-arch} flags at configure time only affect how Qt is built.
+ Applications are by default built for the 32-bit architecture you are
+ currently on. To build a universal binary, add the architectures to the
+ CONFIG variable in the .pro file:
+
+ \code
+ CONFIG += x86 ppc x86_64 ppc64
+ \endcode
+
+
+ \section1 Day-to-Day Application Development on OS X
+
+ On the command-line, applications can be built using \c qmake and \c make.
+ Optionally, \c qmake can generate project files for Xcode with
+ \c{-spec macx-xcode}. If you are using the binary package, \c qmake
+ generates Xcode projects by default; use \c{-spec macx-gcc} to generate
+ makefiles.
+
+ The result of the build process is an application bundle, which is a
+ directory structure that contains the actual application executable. The
+ application can be launched by double-clicking it in Finder, or by
+ referring directly to its executable from the command line, i. e.
+ \c{myApp.app/Contents/MacOS/myApp}.
+
+ If you wish to have a command-line tool that does not use the GUI (e.g.,
+ \c moc, \c uic or \c ls), you can tell \c qmake not to execute the bundle
+ creating steps by removing it from the \c{CONFIG} in your \c{.pro} file:
+
+ \code
+ CONFIG -= app_bundle
+ \endcode
+
+
+ \section1 Deployment - "Compile once, deploy everywhere"
+
+ In general, Qt supports building on one Mac OS X version and deploying on
+ all others, both forward and backwards. You can build on 10.4 Tiger and run
+ the same binary on 10.5 and up.
+
+ Some restrictions apply:
+
+ \list
+ \o Some functions and optimization paths that exist in later versions
+ of Mac OS X will not be available if you build on an earlier
+ version of Mac OS X.
+ \o The CPU architecture should match.
+ \o Cocoa support is only available for Mac OS X 10.5 and up.
+ \endlist
+
+ Universal binaries can be used to provide a smorgasbord of configurations
+ catering to all possible architectures.
+
+ Mac applications are typically deployed as self-contained application
+ bundles. The application bundle contains the application executable as well
+ as dependencies such as the Qt libraries, plugins, translations and other
+ resources you may need. Third party libraries like Qt are normally not
+ installed system-wide; each application provides its own copy.
+
+ The most common way to distribute applications is to provide a compressed
+ disk image (.dmg file) that the user can mount in Finder. The Mac
+ deployment tool (macdeployqt) can be used to create the self-contained bundles, and
+ optionally also create a .dmg archive. See the
+ \l{Deploying an Application on Mac OS X}{Mac deployment guide} for more
+ information about deployment. It is also possible to use an installer
+ wizard. More information on this option can be found in
+ \l{http://developer.apple.com/mac/}{Apple's documentation}.
+*/
+