User interface builder software#
User interface builder code#

When Interface Builder was a standalone application, interface designers could ship nib files to developers, who would then drop them into their projects. In this way all initialization is done before runtime, both improving performance and streamlining the development process.

User interface builder code#

Actions (messages) which the objects can emit are connected to targets in the application's code and outlets (pointers) declared in the application's code are connected to specific objects. To build an interface, a developer simply drags interface objects from the palette onto a window or menu. Interface Builder's palettes are completely extensible, meaning any developer can develop new objects and add palettes to Interface Builder. These user interface objects contain items like text fields, data tables, sliders, and pop-up menus. Interface Builder provides palettes, or collections, of user interface objects to an Objective-C or Swift developer. One notable early use of Interface Builder was the development of the first WorldWideWeb web browser by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, made using a NeXT workstation. It was the first commercial application that allowed interface objects, such as buttons, menus, and windows, to be placed in an interface using a mouse. Jobs immediately recognized its value, and started incorporating it into NeXTSTEP, and by 1988 it was part of NeXTSTEP 0.8. Denison Bollay took Jean-Marie Hullot to NeXT later that year to demonstrate it to Steve Jobs. It was invented and developed by Jean-Marie Hullot using the object-oriented features in ExperLisp, and deeply integrated with the Macintosh toolbox. Interface Builder first made its appearance in 1986 written in Lisp (for the ExperLisp product by ExperTelligence). Interface Builder was intentionally developed as a separate application, to allow interaction designers to design interfaces without having to use a code-oriented IDE, but as of Xcode 4, Apple has integrated its functionality directly into Xcode. On March 27, 2008, a specialized iPhone version of Interface Builder allowing interface construction for iPhone applications was released with the iPhone SDK Beta 2. A version of Interface Builder is also used in the development of OpenStep software, and a very similar tool called Gorm exists for GNUstep.

User interface builder software#

Interface Builder is descended from the NeXTSTEP development software of the same name. nib file, short for NeXT Interface Builder, or more recently, as an XML-based. Interface Builder allows Cocoa and Carbon developers to create interfaces for applications using a graphical user interface. It is part of Xcode (formerly Project Builder), the Apple Developer developer's toolset. Interface Builder is a software development application for Apple's macOS operating system. Proprietary, distributed with Xcode suite.