Mac Catalina Xcode

 admin

User393244 posted I bought a 2015 Macbook Pro to target iOS for a mobile app I'm developing with Visual Studio 2010 and Xamarin.Forms on Windows 10. I recall reading somewhere. Xcode is a complete developer toolset for creating apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Xcode brings user interface design, coding, testing, debugging, and submitting to the App Store into a unified workflow. Downloading and updating Xcode. The current release of Xcode is available as a free download from the Mac App Store. So the solution is to compile Xdebug manually, manually specifying the actual location of the header files, which are still provided by Xcode, just at a different location. First, make sure Xcode is installed, including the command line tools. The following command will display the location of the default SDK. Xcode Update Mac Catalina The Assistant button splits the Xcode editor in two, with your primary work document on the left and an intelligent Assistant editor pane to the right. The Assistant editor automatically displays files that Xcode determines are most helpful to you based on the work you are performing in the primary editor.

Xcode is the Mac app that developers use to create apps for Apple’s platforms, like iOS. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how you can download and install Xcode on your Mac.

Here’s what we’ll get into:

  • 3 approaches to download and install Xcode on your Mac
  • Tips and tricks to keep your Xcode up-to-date
  • How to install Xcode betas on your Mac

Ready? Let’s go.

Xcode can only be installed on a Mac. Want to build apps with a PC? Check out your alternatives here.

How To Download Xcode for macOS

How do you download Xcode for macOS? You’ve got a few options:

  1. Get Xcode via the Mac App Store
  2. Download Xcode via developer.apple.com/downloads
  3. Install through Mac App Store CLI (see below)

Let’s walk through the approaches you can use to download and install Xcode on your Mac, and their advantages. We’ll start with the Mac App Store, because that’s the simplest option.

Here’s how you can download and install via the Mac App Store:

  1. Make sure you’re logged into macOS with your Apple ID
  2. Open the Mac App Store app
  3. Search for “xcode” in the search field, at the top-left
  4. Click on the Xcode app item that appears
  5. Click on the Get or Install buttom at the top-right to download and install Xcode

There are a few things you should know, though. Xcode is a huge app, about 7 gigabyte (GB) in size. You’ll need about 15 GB of free space on your Mac to install Xcode this way.

Installing via the App Store is simple, easy and seamless. Unfortunately, issues with downloading, like a lost connection, etc., usually means you’ll have to reattempt the download.

Author’s Note: Installing Xcode via the App Store never maxes out my download speed — not even close. On a 500 Mbps fiber line, it regularly drops down to 200 KB/s.

Installing Xcode on Mac

Installing Xcode via the Mac App Store is as simple as clicking Install. However, there’s an approach that gives you more control: developer.apple.com/download.

Here’s how that works:

  1. Go to developer.apple.com/download and log in with your Apple ID
  2. Click on More in the top-right of the page, next to Beta and Release
  3. In the search field on the left, type “xcode” and press Enter
  4. Locate and click the appropriate version of Xcode in the list
  5. In the panel slides out, click the .xip filename, i.e. Xcode 12.xip and save/download that file onto your Mac

This will download a .xip file, which includes Xcode. The download size is currently about 7 gigabyte (GB). You’ll need at least twice that size of free storage on your Mac to install Xcode with this approach. Downloading Xcode this way is often faster than through the Mac App Store.

Once you’ve downloaded Xcode, open and unzip the .xip file. This may take a while. You can then drag-and-drop the Xcode.app file to your ~/Applications folder. Finally, start the Xcode app. You’ll be greeted with the following prompt:

Click Install in this prompt. Xcode will now attempt to install the Xcode Command Line Tools on your Mac. They are CLI tools used to compile apps with Xcode, among other things. You often need these tools to work with other programming languages on Mac, as well.

A disadvantage of manually installing Xcode through the Developer portal is that Xcode won’t automatically update. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, because you can use this approach to install multiple versions of Xcode side-by-side. This is helpful for debugging or trying out beta versions of Xcode (see below).

There’s another, more hidden benefit. Installing Xcode through the Mac App Store limits you to the most recent version of Xcode. If your version of macOS or Mac OS X doesn’t support the latest version of Xcode, you can usually install older versions via developer.apple.com!

You can pinpoint the latest version of Xcode that your Mac supports by cross-referencing a few tables on Wikipedia. First, figure out what macOS version you have. Then, go to the Xcode wiki, and find your version of macOS in the min macOS version to run column between Xcode 9.x and 12.x. The version of Xcode you can run is in the row above the one you found. For example, the latest version of Xcode you can run on macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra) is Xcode 10.1. Keep in mind that running an older version of Xcode often limits for which iOS, Swift and SwiftUI versions you can build.

Updating Xcode to The Latest Version

How do you keep your Xcode up-to-date? Apple regularly releases new versions of Xcode. They typically include bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as new Xcode features, like the minimap.

More importantly, new Xcode versions include new versions of the iOS SDKs, Swift and SwiftUI. You can only use these new technologies with the latest versions of Xcode.

You can update your Xcode to the latest versions like this:

Mac Os Catalina Xcode

  1. If you’ve installed Xcode via the App Store, updates happen automatically, or you can manually initiate an update in the Updates tab of the app
  2. If you’ve manually installed Xcode via developer.apple.com, you’ll also need to manually install the newer version; updates aren’t automatic

How do you know if Xcode has a new version?

  • You get a notification on your Mac (if installed via App Store)
  • Keep an eye on developer.apple.com/news/releases (official)
  • Check out xcodereleases.com
  • Follow @XcodeReleases on Twitter

By the way, there’s a 3rd way to download and install Xcode on your Mac. It’s called mas-cli, and it’s essentially a Command Line Interface (CLI) wrapper for the Mac App Store. It uses the App Store – from the command line… Nice!

You can install mas-cli via Homebrew, a package manager for Mac. Installing mas-cli via Homebrew happens like this:

You can then list apps installed through the App Store on your Mac, with:

You can then search for Xcode like this:

Then, copy the numerical code you see on screen to install Xcode:

You can find outdated apps with mas outdated. You can then upgrade all outdated apps with mas upgrade, or selectively update Xcode by its identifier:

Awesome!

Author’s Note: As I understand it, you’ll need to have installed an app via the App Store before you can install it again with mas-cli.

Getting Xcode Beta Versions

Apple regularly releases beta versions of upcoming software, like iOS, macOS and Xcode. This enables developers to try out new features before they become available to the general public, and provide feedback and bug reports back to Apple.

How can you download and install Xcode’s beta versions? Here’s how:

  1. Go to developer.apple.com/download and log in with your Apple ID
  2. Choose one of the following:
    • Click Beta in the top-right:
      1. Select Applications
      2. Locate the featured Xcode beta you need
      3. Click Download
    • Click More in the top-right
      1. Use the search field to find “xcode”
      2. Locate the Xcode beta you need
      3. Expand the panel by clicking on it
      4. Click the .xip to download
  3. Once you’ve got a .xip, unzip it, copy the .app to your ~/Applications folder, and start the Xcode app.

As we’ve discussed before, you can install multiple versions of Xcode side-by-side with this approach. You can, for example, have the regular Xcode installed via the App Store, and install a beta version of Xcode next to it.

You don’t need to have a paid Developer Account to install betas of Xcode. Just use the free Apple Developer Account. It can occasionally happen that Apple restricts beta software to paid subscribers only, however.

If you’re installing multiple Xcodes, change their filenames to reflect their versions. That makes it easier to tell them apart! Just so you know: when you switch between installed Xcode versions, you usually get that “Install additional components” prompt again. There are ways around that, but it’s simplest to just let it install again whenever Xcode needs to.

Further Reading

Managed to install Xcode on your Mac? Awesome! Now you know how to install Xcode’s betas next to it, and keep everything up-to-date. Here’s what we discussed in this tutorial:

  • 3 approaches to download and install Xcode on your Mac
  • Tips and tricks to keep your Xcode up-to-date
  • How to install Xcode betas on your Mac

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:


You can maybe circumvent the xcode-specific logic by passing -DOS=mac -f make-linux to node-gyp (check the source) but it's not supported. I'll close the issue. I'll close the issue. EDIT(gibfahn): Command line tools is fine, you don't need the full Xcode.

The Xcode IDE is at the center of the Apple development experience. Tightly integrated with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, Xcode is an incredibly productive environment for building apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

Xcode smoothly takes you from concept, to code, to customers.

Because everything is so well integrated, workflows feel natural. As you compose a new interface, the Assistant editor intuitively presents the related source code in a split window pane. Simply drag the mouse to connect UI controls to the implementation code. Apple LLVM compiler technologies parse your code, keeping every symbol you see in the LLDB debugger consistent with the editor and compiler. As you type, that same engine is constantly at work, finding mistakes and offering Fix-its for your code.

Xcode even communicates with the Apple developer website, so you can enable services such as Game Center or Passbook in your app with a single click. When your app is ready, Xcode will bundle and submit your app to the App Store.

Assistant Editor

Xcode Update Mac Catalina

The Assistant button splits the Xcode editor in two, with your primary work document on the left and an intelligent Assistant editor pane to the right. The Assistant editor automatically displays files that Xcode determines are most helpful to you based on the work you are performing in the primary editor. For instance, if you are editing MyClass.m in the primary editor, the Assistant will automatically show the counterpart MyClass.h.

Jump Bar

Clicking the Jump Bar, located at the top of every editor pane, you can quickly select what information to view in the Assistant editor. For instance, while editing source code in the primary editor, the Assistant can show the counterpart header, sub-classes or superclasses, or related tests.

The Jump Bar is a path control at the top of every editor pane that can be clicked to quickly jump to a new location, or begin typing to filter down to a specific file or method definition.
  1. Xcode comes bundled with all your command-line tools. MacOS 10.9 and later includes shims or wrapper executables. These shims, installed in /usr/bin, can map any tool included in /usr/bin to the corresponding one inside Xcode. Xcrun is one of such shims, which allows you to find or run any tool inside Xcode from the command line.
  2. The Xcode IDE is at the center of the Apple development experience. Tightly integrated with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, Xcode is an incredibly productive environment for building apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

Interface Builder

Fully integrated within the Xcode IDE, the Interface Builder design canvas makes it simple to prototype a full user interface without writing any code. Prototype in minutes, then graphically connect your interface to the source within the Xcode editor, laying out windows, buttons, and sliders to create a functioning Mac, iPhone, or iPad user interface. With the Assistant editor, you can work on the graphical design side-by-side with the implementation source code. A simple mouse drag from a UI control to the source pane creates a connection between code and interface, and can even create the code stub for you.Learn more

The Version editor makes it easy to compare two versions of a file, see commit logs, check who made a code change, and even zoom back through the commit timeline. The Version editor splits the pane to show two different versions of the same file. Differences are highlighted as you travel through the timeline separating the editor views. Xcode can also create a local Git repository for new projects, or check out a hosted Subversion or Git repo. The top-level Source Control menu makes it easy to perform branch and merge operations, perfect for distributed teams.

Mac Catalina Xcode-select

Testing

Mac Catalina Xcode Won't Update

Xcode

Test-driven development is a first-class workflow within Xcode. The Test Navigator makes it incredibly easy to jump to any test in your project, execute an individual test, or execute a group of tests. The Assistant editor has new test-specific views that automatically track which tests exercise the code you are presently editing, keeping your tests and code in sync at all times.

Customize

The Xcode environment can be configured to match almost any workflow, including customization features like tabs, behaviors, and snippets.

Tabs.

Mac Catalina Xcode Command Line Tools

Create a completely unique view of your project with tabs. Each tab has its own navigator, editor, assistant, and utility area arrangement. You can name tabs for specific tasks, re-arrange them, or tear out the tab to create a stand-alone window.

Mac Catalina Xcode 12.5

Behaviors.

Tell Xcode what to do with events such as starting a debug session or encountering an error during a build. Coupled with tabs, you can create a custom work environment for each of your edit, design, build, or debug tasks. Custom behaviors can also completely re-arrange your window with a single key combination.

Snippets.

Xcode Update Mac

Dozens of pre-configured code completions, such as defining a new class or method, are included in the snippets library. By customizing or adding snippets, you can insert frequently entered code by typing only a few characters.

Mac Catalina Xcode Install

Xcode Update Mac Ios

Mac Catalina Xcode Version

Get quick access to any file your project uses with Open Quickly (Command-Shift-O). Xcode immediately offers completions for your search, allowing you to choose one and hit Return to open the file or hit Option-Return to open in the Assistant editor.

Xcode Update Mac Os

Customize the way Xcode builds and runs your app depending on whether you are debugging, profiling, performing code analysis, or running a test suite. For example, the default scheme is configured to build your app in “Debug” mode when running, and the same scheme settings will build for “Release” when performing the Profile or Archive command. There is no need to change project settings as you move from task to task. Xcode configures the schemes for you automatically, or you can use the “Manage Schemes” menu to customize them yourself.