Inside Macintosh


Inside Macintosh is the title of the developer documentation manuals published by Apple Computer, documenting the APIs and machine architecture of the Macintosh computer.

Early editions

The first Inside Macintosh documentation, for the Mac 128K, was distributed in two large binders with photocopied 3-hole-punched pages. Every few months, updated sections were distributed for insertion into the binders. Some of the original sections were written by very early members of the Macintosh group, including Chris Espinosa and Joanna Hoffman.
In July 1982, Caroline Rose was hired to take over the software documentation, while Bradley Hacker focused on documenting the hardware. In addition to being the lead writer, Rose edited Volumes I–III and was the project supervisor. In 1984, additional writers joined the effort, including Robert Anders, Mark Metzler, Kate Withey, Steve Chernicoff, Andy Averill, and Brent Davis.  
Due to numerous last-minute software changes, the official version to be published by Addison-Wesley was delayed. In the meantime, a $25 Promotional Edition became available in April 1985.
Addison-Wesley published Volumes I–III in July 1985 in two formats: as three separate paperback books and as one hardcover book combining all three volumes. It was the official technical documentation for the original Mac 128K, the Mac 512K, and Mac XL models.

Reception

Reactions to Volumes I–III were mixed. While many praised the documentation for its clarity, thoroughness, and consistency, others disagreed, particularly complaining about the lack of sample code.
Among the positive feedback were the following:
On the negative side:
These versions of Inside Macintosh were subsequently published by Addison-Wesley :
All of these volumes were designed to be read together; no information was repeated.

New approach

Shortly after Volume VI was published, Apple revamped the entire Inside Macintosh series, breaking it into volumes according to the functional area discussed, rather than specific machine models or capabilities. In this form, the series was far more coherent and a much better reference for programmers. As new functionality was added to the classic Mac OS, new volumes could be written without invalidating those published earlier—in contrast to the first series, which became increasingly out of date over time.
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These related documents were also published:
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In the late 1990s, Apple stopped publishing Inside Macintosh as a printed book, instead making it available as a CD-ROM at least since 1994, as well as online. Since then, the CD variant has been phased out, though Apple developers can still receive online documentation as part of the developer CDs. In its online form, the information is much easier to maintain, but some developers still prefer a printed format.
Inside Macintosh covers only the classic Mac OS; a new set of documentation was introduced for Mac OS X. Initially this documentation included only the Carbon Specification identifying the APIs that were supported in Carbon and the Cocoa documentation inherited from OpenStep. Later, the Carbon Specification was refactored into the Carbon Reference, which actually documented the APIs. Today, the Carbon Reference and Cocoa Reference are bundled together in the ADC Reference Library.