Objective-C

Also known as Obj-C programming language, Objc, Objective-C (programming language), Objective-C programming language, Objective C programming language

Objective-C is a high-level general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style message passing (messaging) to the C programming language. Originally developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love in the early 1980s, it was selected by NeXT for its NeXTSTEP operating system. Due to Apple macOS’s direct lineage from NeXTSTEP, Objective-C was the standard language used, supported, and promoted by Apple for developing macOS and iOS applications (via their respective application programming interfaces (APIs), Cocoa and Cocoa Touch) from 1997, when Apple purchased NeXT, until the in

Key facts

Programming language.name: Objective-C
Programming language.file ext: .h, .m, .mm, .M
Programming language.paradigms: Reflective, class-based object-oriented
Programming language.family: C
Programming language.designer: Brad Cox, Tom Love
Programming language.latest release version: 2.0
Programming language.typing: Static, dynamic, weak
Programming language.implementations: Clang, GCC
Programming language.influenced by: C, Smalltalk
Programming language.influenced: Groovy, Java, Nu, Objective-J, TOM, Swift
Programming language.operating system: Cross-platform
Programming language.website: developer.apple.com
Programming language.wikibooks: Objective-C Programming

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official website: developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ProgrammingWithObjectiveC/Introduction/Introduction.html

Show 7 more facts

Stack Exchange tag: stackoverflow.com/tags/objective-c
Commons category: Objective-C
inception: 1984-01-01
file extension: C
Alexa rank: 59
software version identifier: 2.0
Mastodon instance URL: objc.social

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~59 min read

Article

50 sections

Contents

History
Popularization through NeXT
Apple development and Swift
Syntax
Messages
Interfaces and implementations
Interface
Implementation
Instantiation
Protocols
Dynamic typing
Forwarding
Example
Notes
Categories
Example use of categories
Notes
Posing
#import
Linux gcc compilation
Other features
Objective-C 2.0
Garbage collection
Properties
Non-fragile instance variables
Fast enumeration
Class extensions
Blocks
Modern Objective-C
Automatic Reference Counting
Literals
Subscripting
Language variants
Objective-C++
"Modern" Objective-C syntax (1997)
Implementations
GNU, GNUstep, and WinObjC
Clang
mulle-objc
Portable Object Compiler
Library use
Analysis of the language
Memory management
Philosophical differences between Objective-C and C++
Similarly-named languages
GEOS Objective-C
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Objective-C programs developed for non-Apple operating systems or that are not dependent on Apple's APIs may also be compiled for any platform supported by GNU, GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) or LLVM/Clang.