This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2010) |
Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
---|---|
Initial release | 1988 |
Stable release | 3.2.6 / Released March 15, 2011 4.0 / Released March 9, 2011 |
Operating system | macOS |
Type | software development |
License | Proprietary, distributed with Xcode suite. |
Website | developer |
Interface Builder is a software development application for Apple's macOS operating system. It is part of Xcode (formerly Project Builder), the Apple Developer developer's toolset. Interface Builder allows Cocoa and Carbon developers to create interfaces for applications using a graphical user interface. The resulting interface is stored as a .nib file, short for NeXT Interface Builder, or more recently, as an XML-based .xib file.
Interface Builder is descended from the NeXTSTEP development software of the same name. A version of Interface Builder is also used in the development of OpenStep software, and a very similar tool called Gorm exists for GNUstep. On March 27, 2008, a specialized iPhone version of Interface Builder allowing interface construction for iPhone applications was released with the iPhone SDK Beta 2.
Interface Builder was intentionally developed as a separate application, to allow interaction designers to design interfaces without having to use a code-oriented IDE, but as of Xcode 4, Apple has integrated its functionality directly into Xcode.