Download Xcode 4.4 Developer Preview 3

A new developer preview of Xcode 4.4 is now available to people enrolled with Apple’s annual $99 program, and includes an updated LLVM Compiler (version 4.0), as well as other enhancements.

People familiar with the new Xcode are reporting that Developer Preview 3 brings a hefty list of Objective-C language features, improved support for the 2011 C++ standard, and major improvements to Xcode's static analyzer.

Developers further get new interface builder support for AppKit features, a viewer and editor for 3D files as .DAE documents, improved Find Bar and Search Navigator, integrated QuickHelp in code completion, and tweaks to the source editor jump bar popup.

Known issues include a potential difficulty downloading earlier versions of Xcode from the Mac App Store, a bunch of minor issues with linker and new load commands, scheme editing hiccups, problems with non-admin users debugging or running Instruments, and more.

Because the ATS.framework is being deprecated, performance of ATS APIs will suffer in OS X 10.8, Apple says. To work around this issue, developers are advised to replace all their ATS code with CoreText.

Xcode 4.4 Developer Preview 3 is compatible with OS X 10.7.3 Lion or OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 (build 12A178Q) and can be obtained from the Mac Dev Center.

To test and / or deploy applications on a Mac or iOS device, users must be registered members of Apple's iOS and / or Mac Developer Programs.

“Xcode provides everything developers need to create great applications for Mac, iPhone, and iPad,” Apple states on the Mac App Store, where the latest public version of Xcode (4.3.2) can be downloaded free of charge.

“Xcode 4 has been streamlined to help you write better apps. It has unified user interface design, coding, testing, and debugging all within a single window. The Xcode IDE analyzes the details of your project to identify mistakes in both syntax and logic, it can even help fix your code for you.”