Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!daveo
From: daveo@Apple.COM (David M. O'Rourke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: The Mac's resource fork: does Win 3 have one?
Message-ID: <42748@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 7 Jul 90 01:09:44 GMT
References: <2322.268f7cca@csc.anu.oz> <2964@gmdzi.UUCP> <7705@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <2966@gmdzi.UUCP> <23070@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <2987@gmdzi.UUCP> <42649@apple.Apple.COM> <3038@gmdzi.UUCP> <42672@apple.Apple.COM> <3052@gmdzi.UUCP>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 37

strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) writes:
>a) How does the Multifinder work? More specific, how is the memory 
>   allocation organized? Is there some kind of memory partition, or
>   is it dynamic?

  NOTE: I don't work in the OS group so I'm not privy to the real deep
        internals of Multi-finder and I am attacking this question from
        a rather high-level.  I would welcome any details or corrections
        that might be overlooked in my answer. Just because I work for
        Apple doesn't mean I have the time to "know" everything, although
        I'll keep trying.   :-) :-)

  I don't believe MF's memory allocation is as robust as MS windows due to
some of the limitation of maintaining compatibility with early Mac's :-(

  But the Mac's memory management scheme allows for multiple heap zone's in
a single contiguous memory map.  Multi-finder creates a single contiguous
heap for each process and all the programs memory allocations generally come
out of that heap.  When a program quits all of the heap space is returned to
MF's free space and it might/might-not be allocated again depending on
demand.

  Short answer:  Yes there is a memory partition and it is not dynamic.

>b) Please recommend a Macintosh book similar to what Charles Petzold's 
>   "Programming Windows" is for MS Windows. (-; I do not want to dig
>   through reference manuals. Instead I would like to read a well 
>   written, structured introduction into Macintosh architecture and
>   programming. I prefer code examples in C or C++. 

  I've yet to see an excellent book for programming the Mac.  But Apple's
"Programmer's Introduction to Macintosh" does a good job, and Macintosh
Revealed is also quite nice.  Any other suggestions from netland???
-- 
daveo@apple.com                                               David M. O'Rourke
_______________________________________________________________________________
I do not speak for Apple in *ANY* official capacity.