Objective c is the language of choice for apple, but Xcode supports
other languages as well. I (for instance) have pascal, python, java,
ruby, and probably a few others installed, and they do work, but
honestly, apple isn't real gunho for other languages it seems, and
the whole gui builder thing really irritates me. Siunce tiger, I've
been complaining how unusable the gui creator is for vo users, and
although it has gotten better with each release, it's still
impossible for a vo user to build a gui interface from scratch w/o
sighted assistance. There's alternatives, such as renaissance, java
(I used to use java to create my gui interfaces for me, since the
grid layout automatically takes care of gui layout for you) but apple
no longer has seamless integration of java into Xcode. It can still
be done, but it's no longer the smooth seamless process it used to
be. As a result, I'm still hunting for an alternative to Xcode. I
suspect I'll never find one, but I keep looking anyhow.
For simple programs though, java still works quite well, since as
pointed out above, guis can be created with very little fuss, and it
just works. Something I can't say for Objective C and it's Xcode
interface. <sigh>
I'm strongly of the opinion that apple doesn't expect vi developers,
so doesn't really do anything to support us. They obviously know
we're out here, but apparently, we're such a small cross section,
they must honestly feel the extra effort it would take to make things
completely usable for us isn't worth the time it would take to do so,
and so we're left scrambling for alternatives to do the job.
Don't get me wrong, Apple has done wonderful for the vi user, and I
expect even better things from them in the future, as does everyone I
know who uses apple products. I can't thank apple enough for
removing the access barrier which did wonders for reducing cost for
those of us who don't have state agencies to purchase equipment for
us, but I honestly believe that vi programmers just aren't on apple's
radar, specifically because there's so few of us out here. Of
course, that kind of makes the whole thing self replicating, no tools
that work for vi users, means no vi programmers can develop for the
platform, which eliminates the need for vi accessible development
tools, and so on. <sigh>.
I would love to be proved wrong on this point, but judging from what
I've seen since 2005, I can't see any other interpretation for the
available information/behavior I've personally obtained/observed.
It's frustrating, but it's the state of things, so those of us who
enjoy the programming end of things, just have to keep muddling along
turning out what we can, and continue to hope we can manage despite
the issues.
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