Upgrading to Mac OS Lion as Developer

Question

I'm planning to buy Mac OS Lion, but I would like to know some informations. - Are Snow Leopard's apps compatible with Lion? - Are apps compiled with Xcode for Lion compatible with Snow Leopard? What if these app uses popovers/fullscreen which are features of Lion?

Answer 1

xCode requires a full download (the full 5*ish GB) and if you are a Java guy you will have to re download Java as it is not included (this was my experience when opening eclipse for the first time in Lion).

Some of Snow leopards apps are compatible, not all (ppc apps will not work). It is probably best to check with the software vendor first.

Another thing your Library folder disappears on an upgrade among some others where Lion is trying to 'Protect' its users. To get round this simply enter the command into terminal. (replace username with your username and foldertoreveal with the hidden foldername)

chflags nohidden /Users/Username/FolderToReveal 

The upgrade process other wise has been fine. For reference I am an Obj C /C++ /C and Java developer. Hope this helps

Also will link you to this post about Developing Java on Lion: Stack Overflow post on Java in Lion

Answer 2

A very good list of compatible applications is available at RoaringApps. I highly recommend checking for your favorite editors/IDEs/etc there.

Of note:

• TextMate: "Works fine," but there are some issues
• BBEdit: "Works fine"
• iTerm2: "Works fine" (minor interface bugs)
• And of course, Apple's tools require an upgrade to XCode 4.1.

As far as developing with the new APIs in Lion, you can explicitly target a specific version of OS X for compatibility. When building for 10.6, those new APIs will not be exposed during compilation and you will get warnings about unrecognized selectors if you try to use them.