Oh, and as a total side-note, I used Objective-C on solaris all the
time, and would prefer to use it over Java every single time, but for
its lack of support on other platforms where I have to deploy. Choice
of static or dynamic typing as needed, quasi-AOP abilities, selector-
based messaging rather than function pointers or v-tables - and now
with garbage collection, plus a really really nice base-class library
(java's is not, and I worked for sun and now work for Google, so I'm
not ignorant in these matters).
I don't mind Java, especially with recent improvements, and Objective-
C should have evolved more in this time, but the truth is, Java is
only just now becoming even half as easy to program a complex app in a
small amount of code. I was so much more productive in terms of, oh,
I don't know, features-per-line-of-code (to pick a bullshit metric) in
Obj-C over Java. <sigh>
Anyway, just one java guru's view...
Christian..
On Apr 27, 2010, at 8:42 AM, opinali wrote:
Quoting my take on Objective-C from Simon's blog (http://
www.psynixis.com/blog/2010/04/11/the-risk-apple-is-taking-with-its-new-iphone-language-strategy/)
:
"Objective-C is a FAILED programming language. It would be totally
extinct if Steve Jobs wouldn’t pick it and mandate it use since the
NeXT and now in the OSX and iPhoneOS platforms. At NeXT time it was
still an interesting, innovative language (compared to the competition
in its class: early C++, and… nothing else). But times change and Obj-
C didn’t. And it was a bad approach to start with — a naive attempt to
snatch some pieces of Smalltalk into C. (Hint: dynamic versus static
typing, and other incongruencies.) If Obj-C was a language with
merits, it would have met some degree of success in other platforms.
There’s even a full GNU compiler (gcc-objc) and frameworks (OpenStep)
that could be used to port classic NeXT apps to any OS. But the uptake
of Obj-C on any platforms where it’s not mandated as the official
language, was close to zero. Other, superior languages appeared and
developers picked those languages and ignored Obj-C. Except of course,
the poor bastards who live under Steve’s heavy boots. Even the likes
of Eiffel were massively popular in comparison. Steve Jobs once
infamously referred to Java as the “heavy ball and chain”. Well,
that’s exactly my feeling if I was an iPhoneOS developer who prefer
alternatives like C# (MonoTouch) but was forced to use the monkey dung
that Obj-C is. Apple is using the power of their successful platform
to chain developers to a clunky SDK that many many devs would avoid if
they had a chance. (The only reason why Obj-C is heavily used in the
first years of the platform is, of course, absence of alternative
options. Now these options are popping everywhere, and Apple knows
they are all superior in many aspects, so their only choice to keep
lock-in is rule out other tools by fiat.)"
A+
Osvaldo
On 26 abr, 03:50, wilfred <[email protected]> wrote:
Listening to the last episode right now, in particular the comments
on
Apple's decision to ban anything but Objective C based apps from the
iPhone and iPad. Next to me, on top of a pile of books, there is a
book opened up on a page that has some ties with what is being
discussed. It's part of an open letter to Steve Jobs, dating from
1996:
"Dear Steve,
....
Drop Objective C. There's no money to be made supporting yet another
object language. Use C++ with SOM and you;ll get all the same
benefits
without the headaches. If you don't like C++, use Smalltalk with
CORBA
- it will also give you the same results.
...."
It's part of Robert Orfali's book on Distributed Object Computing. I
think it's pretty hilarious, looking back. Rather than scaring
developers off - as the authors expected - Objective C is now being
used to scare people away from targeting anything but Steve's
platform.
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