General development questions

Hello fellow developers!

I just have a few questions about development now that I have my MacBook Pro...

I assume I use Xcode for most of my development needs, but is there any recommended reading you suggest for making my C/C++ programs into Aqua-based GUI apps? I'm awesome at programming but know NOTHING about making GUI (especially mac aqua GUI) apps and I feel so lost... I'd like to jump into NeoOffice or Mactheripper and lend a hand but don't know where to start.

Also - Applescript and cocoa look intriguing, but again, I don't know where to start. I don't even quite understand what they are for compared to other languages, etc. What would be the best language/interface/tools to allow my apps to be ported easily between all the *nixes, such as OS X, linux, and *BSD?

Let me know anything you can! I look forward to lending my skills to the benefit of all mac users!

Applescript is a simple scripting language for OS X and applescript enabled apps. Kind of like Command-line Automator Extreme for programmers...
The syntax is very easy to learn though, as it uses regular english expressions.

Cocoa - (as I understand it) is an set of standardized interface elements for OS X apps that take care of a lot of things for the programmer.

For example: If you create a cocoa text-box, you also get automatic spell checking and a standardized look & feel. (AFAIK)

As for the rest of your questions: I'll have to pass on them to the rest of our panel, but I' definitely check out developers.apple.com for more general info (if you haven't already).

Yeah - I checked out developer.apple.com but the info is so general it's like telling my mom what programming is ;D lol