First Vst Plugin, I need references Options

[aquaman]

I want to try writing a VST plugin. However I am not sure what to bother attempting until I know how demanding it will be. I am competent with C and C++ but have only coded/compiled with text editors in Unix shells (which has no frills so is frighteningly easy to understand), and am unfamiliar with Apple Developer tools. I also am not sure how to handle the input/output. Can someone point me to some references for using developer tools to write software, and references to coding music software or sample code (you can leave out the algorithm of the specific application, I just want to see the syntax for communicating with midi/audio files). -Thanks

[Maxlef]

download the Vst SDK from the steinberg site...with the documentation...