James and John of the RetroMacCast mentioned on their show this week a document titled “Inside Macintosh” they found. Here’s a bit from the preface:
Inside Macintosh is a three-volume set of manuals that tells you what you need to know to write software for the Apple® Macintosh™ 128K, 512K, or XL (or a Lisa® running MacWorks™ XL). Although directed mainly toward programmers writing standard Macintosh applications, Inside Macintosh also contains the information needed to write simple utility programs, desk accessories, device drivers, or any other Macintosh software. It includes:
– the user interface guidelines for applications on the Macintosh
– a complete description of the routines available for your program to call (both those built
into the Macintosh and others on disk), along with related concepts and background
information
– a description of the Macintosh 128K and 512K hardware
It’s long, but interesting that even early on, people wanted to write great stuff for the Mac.