APIs and Mac programming

[letscode]

We hear a lot about Windows/Unix/Linux programming. But i wonder why dont we hear anything as "Programming for Mac".
I have book that says API is sort of an application but cant work on its own. If thats true, does an API generate a machine code just like a fully functioning application or the functions that we use in C++ \

[MiiNiPaa]

I have book that says API is sort of an application but cant work on its own

API is an interface between one program and another. System API is a layer between OS and your program. If you have used dynamic libraries, you can think of system API as of calls to dynamic libraries loaded by system.
MacOS is a subset of Unix OS. BSD, to be precise. So it compatible with many Unix libraries

[DeXecipher]

@MiiNiPaa
i think reading your post just raised my iq half a point.

[letscode]

Also, what is the extension of an OS is it .sys or something else ?

[z05DSL3A]

MiiNiPaa wrote:

MacOS is a subset of Unix OS. BSD, to be precise. So it compatible with many Unix libraries

I would be better to say (possibly): Unix is a set of standards, Mac OS X meets these standards, so Mac OS X is Unix.
Also the kernel for Mac OS X is XNU. This is based on Carnegie Mellon's Mach 3 microkernel with some heavily modified freeBSD code mixed in to make it a hybrid kernel.

[a k n]

Also, what is the extension of an OS is it .sys or something else ?

Extension? well mostly nothing ,it doesn't need to have an extension it is an OS and other programs that need extensions to recognize file types.Also,if you are using (*nix) you dont really need extensions,file types are recognized using "magic numbers" , metadata ...

Yep, an API wont run on itself just like a car engine wont run on itself.
Dynamic libraries are basically just machine code they contain functions that the program might call during runtime.