Well, Dr. Nic is kicking ass again.

Though I’m a recent convert to rSpec for my Merb work, I actually prefer to unit test Objective-C with OCUnit. I think it’s just part of that prejudice that tests should be written in the language of the app. Also, the more ‘natural’ it feels to write tests, the more likely folks will do so. In my experience, a great number of Obj-C developers have no interest in writing tests in the first place…

Still, rbiphonetest seems like a great project and I imagine several of the “pure” Web developers on my team who are itching to get into Objective-C will quite enjoy a familiar testing framework.

Earlier this month, I managed to do something I’ve wanted to do for around five years: I attended the Cocoa Boot Camp at the Big Nerd Ranch in Georgia.

I first picked up Aaron Hillegass’ book, Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, back in 2001, immediately after it was published. I’d been on OS X since the earliest public builds, and loved it. The underlying tech – from the kernel to the app frameworks – was exciting to me as a relative newbie to both the Apple world and desktop app development.

I’ve since owned every edition of the book, and almost every other Cocoa/Obj-C book out there, but have never taken a class on the subject. I did attend WWDC last year, but the topical sessions aren’t the same as an in-depth classroom experience (though they are quite valuable).

One of the benefits of a session at BNR is that all distractions are removed for a week. Students are taken away from their families, comfy chairs, favorite bourbons, loud offices, DVRs and insane clients and locked away at a remote facility for five days. They are forced to learn, taking breaks only for meals comprised of fried food and iced tea so sweet the supersaturated sugars crystallize in plain site.

Another benefit of the Cocoa Boot Camp is that Aaron guides you through his book from start to finish, lecturing and answering questions as he goes. The structure, immediate feedback, and question sessions are worth the cash on their own.

Three of us from The Barbarian Group attended (Ashley Holtgraver, Keith Butters, and myself) and I think we all found the class inspiring, educational and fun. I’d recommend any of the BNR courses to folks without a second thought.

I’ll write a more in-depth review of the class soon.