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List of Names
Short Form
Full Form
- Objective-C
- See:
- Language type:
- Description:
Objective-C is an object-oriented language
based on C; its object support is based
on a dynamic message-passing model.
Objective-C
provides a range of OOP features:
inheritance, dynamic method invocation,
delegation, metaclasses
and dynamic object creation, a form of
garbage collection, simple persistence,
and a kind of polymorphism.
Objective-C does not support multiple
inheritance, and concurrency is not
part of the language.
The syntax of Objective-C is very similar
to C, but with additions. Unlike
C++, Objective-C does not add OOP semantics
to traditional C syntax; instead, new
syntax specifically for message passing
and class definition provide OOP support.
Objective-C offers the same data types
as C: integers and floats, arrays, structures,
unions, and pointers. Objects are a new
type; Objective-C uses a rooted class
hierarchy: all classes inherit from a root
Object class. This fact is heavily
employed by the Objective-C standard
class library.
Brad Cox invented Objective-C in the
mid-1980s as an OO
extension to C, intended to bring C
programmers some of the benefits offered
by Smalltalk. The language was
used by NeXT in the 1989-94 timeframe as
the application and library
programming language for
the NeXTSTEP and OpenStep operating systems.
Objective-C has been implemented as a C
preprocessor and as a native compiler.
At least one commercial and one free
compiler are available. Information on
Objective-C exists on the Internet but
is not easy to find.
- Origin:
- See Also:
- Remarks:
Objective-C is a very clean and simple
OOP extension to C. It is far more
dynamic than C++, allowing the easier
construction of class libraries, GUI
interfaces, and event-driven systems.
However, a free compiler for Objective-C
was not generally available until 1992,
by which time C++ had begun to dominate
commercial OOP.
The set of Objective-C class libraries
offered with the NeXT machine in 1990 was
very powerful and comprehensive;
a testament of Objective-C's expressive
power and convenience.
Objective-C is the primary programming
language for Apple's new NeXT-based OS,
Rhapsody.
- Links:
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- Date:
- Sample code:
Descriptions in this dictionary are ©1997-99 Neal Ziring. Some
examples copyright of their respective authors. Some
technologies and languages are trademarked. Permission to
copy descriptions is granted as long as authorship credit is preserved.
Comments on this dictionary, corrections and suggestions, are all welcome.
Please use email, the address is ziring@home.com
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Dictionary and script maintained by Neal Ziring, last major modifications 3/18/98. Most recent
additions to dictionary and master list, 1/00.