Craig Hockenberry Partner at The Iconfactory

Who are you and what do you do?

I've been developing software since 1976. In 1997, I started working at the Iconfactory. I like to type.

AND BE MY MINION OR READ MY WEB SIGHT.

What is your computer and workspace setup while developing?

My main development machine is a a Mac Pro with two 30" displays. I also have two 13" MacBook Airs. One is the "business machine" where I keep track of email, accounting, etc. The other is used to run OS releases, development tools, and other software that is in beta.

What are your favourite Apple Cocoa Frameworks to use within apps that you develop?

I don't really have a favorite framework. The thing I love most about Cocoa is the consistent use of design patterns across all frameworks. If you know how delegation works in NSTableView, you know how it works in UITableView and NSURLConnection.

And when you see a new design pattern emerge, like with blocks in the GameKit API, you can immediately see how that pattern will be applied to existing frameworks over time.

What is some software that you use outside of Xcode for development?

It's going to sound like a product plug, but our xScope app is always running side-by-side with Xcode.

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to do development without a Terminal running. And when I'm working on the web, I use BBEdit and Safari.

Let's also not forget the most important piece of software for software development in the past 15 years: Google search.

What do you do to stay up to date on new Mac OSX features, frameworks and SDK's?

There are always several stages to understanding what's new: the first step for me is to always look at the API diffs. This gives me the high-level view of what Apple has done. Depending on the change, the next step is to either dive into the API documentation or the framework overview.

I also think it's important to see how non-developers are reacting to the new features and changes: publications like Macworld are essential for getting a feel of how the general public will be using the new software.

From a developer's perspective, what are your hopes for the next major Mac OSX update?

A lot of time over the past few years has been spent just maintaining our apps to keep them current: transitioning to Intel, then to 64-bit, new document/screen behavior, and now running in a sandbox. My hope for Mountain Lion is that we get a chance to catch our breath and start working on some of the cool new stuff that's available (iCloud, for example.)

Finally, what is your favourite app?

Since I can't mention xScope again, I'll have to go with PCalc :-) Running a development business means dealing with a lot of numbers, and PCalc helps me cope.