The second edition of the guide has been completely rewritten based on reader suggestions, according to the publisher. It also sports many changes reflective of REALbasic 3’s release, and includes information specific to Mac OS X. O’Reilly & Associates said that the book provides complete coverage of REALbasic 3.2.1 and later. It also introduces readers to the fundamentals of object-oriented programming, and is suitable for laypeople with no programming experience at all.
Neuberg said that REALbasic has been able to bring a new crop of users into the programming world, and will continue to do so. He also suggested that the knowledge that REALbasic neophytes can gain will pay off down the road as they tackle more complex programming tasks, too.
“REALbasic is chock full of interface widgets that work automatically, and it’s real object-oriented programming. Learning REALbasic makes it a lot easier for new programmers to learn C++, Java or Objective-C later on,” said Neuberg.
If you’re interested in kicking the tires before you buy the book, the publisher has posted more info about the book online, including a table of contents, index, author bio, and two sample chapters.
REALbasic: The Definitive Guide by Matt Neuberg, ISBN 0-596-00177-0, is on store shelves and costs US$39.95.