REALbasic : The Definitive Guide

REALbasic is a very inexpensive program that allows
users to design full-fledged applications. Simply put,
it is like having Visual Basic on the Mac. It is an application
for writing applications that are astonishingly small
and fast. REALbasic uses a simple interface and an
object- and event-oriented language; this makes
development, maintenance, and alteration of projects
very easy. There is no other program like this for
the Mac. If you want to write a Mac application,
you have little choice of application frameworks,
and REALbasic is the only one with visual design,
object orientation, and an easy language.
With the Macintosh's popularity on the rise and
REALbasic, which presently only runs on Mac, with
plans to make both Java applets and Windows
applications, the interested audience is wider
than the platform implies. Presently there are no
ordered instructional books for REALbasic, and the
official documentation is woefully inadequate.

REALbasic: The Definitive Guide gives people
the information they can't get from the documentation
alone and provides new users with the details they
need to grasp the program's essential concepts. This
book takes the reader from zero knowledge of programming
to the ability to program every aspect of REALbasic.
The book is divided into five main sections.

• Part 1 introduces the reader to the BASIC
  language and such general programming concepts
  as objects, variables, loops, arrays and classes.
  
• In Part 2, the reader delves into more complex
  ideas such as strings, memoryblocks, and threads.
  
• Part 3 shows the reader how to use the interface
  to design the look of an application and attach code
  to its objects.
  
• Part 4 shows how a designed application interacts
  with the operating system.
  
• Part 5 takes the reader through some advanced
  topics, such as how to write XCMDs and C++ plug-ins to
  extend REALbasic's abilities.

This book covers REALbasic 1 and REALbasic 2.
Version 2 adds an internal database, an interface
to SQL servers, and the ability to compile for Windows
and Java. REALbasic: The Definitive Guide is
poised to become an essential reference for the
expanding legion of developers who are are discovering
the power and flexibility of this program.