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What Kind of Application Are You Porting?

Are you bringing a preexisting code base to Mac OS X, or are you adding new functionality—for example a graphical interface—to a command-line application? If you already have a code base written to a particular API, and that API is supported in Mac OS X, you probably want to continue using that API for any large, complex application unless you desire features of another API.

For simple applications, or for applications where you are wrapping a command-line utility with a graphical user interface, you need to evaluate what API to use. Reading the next two sections will help you recognize the benefits and drawbacks of each technology.

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