Introduction to Quartz Programming Guide for QuickDraw Developers

Quartz is an advanced, two-dimensional drawing engine accessible from all Mac OS X application environments outside of the kernel. It provides low-level, lightweight 2D rendering with unmatched output fidelity regardless of display or printing device. Quartz is the Mac OS X replacement for QuickDraw. Quartz not only replaces QuickDraw, but because its imaging model is substantially different than that of QuickDraw, Quartz can offer more advanced drawing capabilities. The differences between imaging models mean that QuickDraw functions can’t simply be replaced by Quartz functions. Transitioning a QuickDraw application to one that uses only Quartz requires a thoughtful approach.

The purpose of this document is to help developers replace their QuickDraw code with Quartz code that achieves equivalent (or more) functionality. It provides strategies and guidance along with routines that use Quartz to achieve functionality similar to QuickDraw routines.

Who Should Read This Document?

Any developer who uses QuickDraw functions in their Mac OS X application will benefit from reading this document. This document assumes that the reader has programming experience with the QuickDraw API. It also assumes basic knowledge of the Quartz imaging model. Before starting this document, you may want to read the overview of Quartz in Quartz 2D Programming Guide. As you read this document, you may find it helpful to keep the programming guide as well as Quartz 2D Reference Collection handy.

Organization of This Document

This document is organized into the following chapters:

See Also

You might find these items of value as you move QuickDraw code to Quartz: