Editing Cocoa (API) (section)

==History==
{{further|History of macOS}}
Cocoa continues the lineage of several [[software framework]]s (mainly the ''App Kit'' and ''Foundation Kit'')  from the [[NeXTSTEP]] and [[OpenStep]] programming environments developed by [[NeXT]] in the 1980s and 1990s. Apple acquired NeXT in December 1996, and subsequently went to work on the [[Rhapsody (operating system)|Rhapsody]] operating system that was to be the direct successor of [[OPENSTEP]]. It was to have had an emulation base for [[classic Mac OS]] applications, named ''Blue Box''. The OpenStep base of libraries and binary support was termed ''Yellow Box''. Rhapsody evolved into Mac OS X, and the Yellow Box became Cocoa. Thus, Cocoa classes begin with the letters ''NS'', such as NSString or NSArray.  These stand for the original proprietary term for the OpenStep framework, NeXTSTEP.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8vUkpOXhN4C&q=NS+prefix|quote=Cocoa is an important inheritance from NeXT, as indicated by .. the "NS" prefix|title=Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach|author=Amit Singh|date=June 19, 2006|publisher=Addison-Wesley Professional |isbn=0-321-27854-2}}</ref>

Much of the work that went into developing OpenStep was applied to developing Mac OS X, Cocoa being the most visible part. However, differences exist. For example, NeXTSTEP and OpenStep used [[Display PostScript]] for on-screen display of text and graphics, while Cocoa depends on Apple's [[Quartz (graphics layer)|Quartz]] (which uses the [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF) imaging model, but not its underlying technology). Cocoa also has a level of Internet support, including the NSURL and [[WebKit]] [[HTML]] classes, and others, while OpenStep had only rudimentary support for managed network connections via NSFileHandle classes and [[Berkeley sockets]].

The API toolbox was originally called “Yellow Box” and was renamed to Cocoa - a name that had been already trademarked by Apple. Apple's ''Cocoa'' trademark had originated as the name of a multimedia project design application for children. The name was intended to evoke "Java for kids", as it ran embedded in web pages.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mardesich|first1=Jodi|title=A Sour Note in Apple's Rhapsody Once-Loyal Software Writers Wary of New OS as Crucial Conference Looms|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&p_theme=sj&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Peter%20Jensen)%20AND%20date(1/1/1997%20to%201/1/1998)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/1997%20to%201/1/1998)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Peter%20Jensen%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no|access-date=13 August 2015|agency=San Jose Mercury News|issue=Morning Final|date=April 14, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306122132/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&p_theme=sj&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Peter%20Jensen)%20AND%20date(1/1/1997%20to%201/1/1998)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/1997%20to%201/1/1998)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Peter%20Jensen%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no|archive-date=2016-03-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> The original "Cocoa" program was discontinued following the return of [[Steve Jobs]] to Apple. At the time, Java was a big focus area for the company, so “Cocoa” was used as the new name for “Yellow Box” because, in addition to the native Objective-C usage, it could also be accessed from Java via a bridging layer.<ref>{{Citation |last=Apple Inc. |title=WWDC 1999 |date=1999-05-10 |url=http://archive.org/details/1999-05-10-wwdc-keynote-bad-audio |access-date=2024-04-27}}</ref> Even though Apple discontinued support for the Cocoa Java bridge, the name continued and was even used for the [[Cocoa Touch]] API.