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From: kempkec@mist.CS.ORST.EDU (Christopher Kempke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: BOOKS
Message-ID: <1991Mar30.080621.12862@lynx.CS.ORST.EDU>
Date: 30 Mar 91 08:06:21 GMT
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In article <93RLZ3w163w@shark.cs.fau.edu> jeffb.bbs@shark.cs.fau.edu (Jeffrey Boser) writes:
>I am sick and tired of people looking for alternatives for IM.
          [...]
>Here is the jist of my gripe:  IM is *the* reference for the macintosh
>Toolbox.  There are NO alternatives.  The Primer, Mac Revealed and others
>are nice introductions to IM, providing examples that can enlighten and
>instruct, but they do *not* contain the plethora of information that IM
>does.  

	Of course, IM is incomplete, containing nothing about Multifinder,
	Gestalt, etc etc. that is in many of the other books.  It's also
	inaccurate -- just TRY writing anything using the sound manager with
	just the information in IM.

	I'm not trying to knock Inside Macintosh, it's just that until Apple
	can start releasing DOCUMENTATION with their system software to
	people who can't afford the $600-a-year or whatever fee to be
	a "registered developer", people WILL want and need correct
	documentation, and will continue to look to sources other than IM
	for that information unless IM can provide it in a timely manner.
	(Some three years out of date does NOT constitute a timely manner).

	Telling these people that they are not "craftsmen", or that they
	don't take pride in their tools and their work, will just make them
	a trifle annoyed with you.

		--Chris

	P.S.   My recommendation would be Macintosh Revealed.  It's somewhat
	easier to read than most of the other non-Apple books, and contains
	a summary that will _almost_ make IM unnecessary for many programs.