Google Toolbox For Mac

Google Toolbox for Mac Update 2020

Quick Answer

I just saw this by way of Arstechnica. For those of you interested in Mac programming, Google has released Google Toolbox for Mac, an open source project that provides code samples and utility code for a variety of programming functions. It’s distributed under the Apache 2.0 License. According to the Google Mac Blog:

“This first release is a little eclectic. It starts with some simple utilities that we seem to need in just about every project, helpers for graphical things and for building unittests. In time, we’ll add more utilities, more interesting and complex classes, and other interesting stuff.” Read below for a more detailed list….

Here is a quick summary of the contents

AppKit = graphics stuff:Geometry utilities to manipulate NSRect, NSPoint, …Shading (gradient)NSBezierPath additions: CGPath conversions, round rects, shadingManipulation of login itemsAccess to system colors and themes (not sure what this one is about)

Foundation =Manipulation of HTML and XML to play nicer with NSString (e.g. special characters in html)Regular expression, based on libregexgzip for NSDataSpecial enumerators to loop through a collection only on filtered elements (kind of like a mix of perl grep anb map)Easy checks for system version (e.g. ‘isLeopard’, ‘isTiger’,…)Fancy range calculations, that can include stopsboilerplate code for singleton object

Extras =Some units tests for all thatXcode potentially useful configurations (those xcconfig files, very powerful stuff)

Google on Thursday plugged a key gap in its growing portfolio of communication services with the acquisition of Gizmo5, a Californian start-up that handles Internet-based voice calls and instant messaging. Google has gone on a spree lately, as they recently bought up AdMob, the mobile advertising service, and have just added Gizmo5 to their roster of subsidiaries. Gizmo5 is a competitor of Skype, as a Voice over IP, VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol service. The plan seems to be that they will be partially revising Google Voice, with Gizmo5 as the backbone of the feature of Google, the ever growing internet Leviathan. It appears that with the addition of Gizmo5, which Google likely didn’t have to go to a loan company to acquire, they look to further dominate the technology market and lead the way as it comes to communication technology, as they’ve begun to do with the Android OS.