Warren Moore

Exactly. I don't know how to get my view backed by QuartzCore properly, which is what I think needs to happen.

You using Swift or Objective-C(++)?

I'm using Objective-C++ so I can get practice w/ C++, since I use Swift at work. I think Swift examples would be easy enough to follow. (?)

Obj-C also makes it easier to follow along in your book. I tried already in Swift, but it was a little tricky... and then I got busy.

So far I've found some documentation about layer hosting, which sounds like it might be a key step I'm missing https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CoreAnimation_guide/SettingUpLayerObjects/SettingUpLayerObjects.html …

You want to be layer-backed. It's sufficient to override makeBackingLayer in your NSView subclass to return an instance of CAMetalLayer.

Is this in addition to the override of layerClass, and the metalLayer getter? I've tried various combinations, but drawRect no longer called