Objective-C is general-purpose language that is developed on top of C Programming language by adding features of Small Talk programming language making it an object-oriented language. It is primarily used in developing iOS and Mac OS X operating systems as well as its applications.
Initially, Objective-C was developed by NeXT for its NeXTSTEP OS from whom it was taken over by Apple for its iOS and Mac OS X.
Object-Oriented Programming
Objective-C fully supports object-oriented programming, including the four pillars of object-oriented development −
- Encapsulation
- Data hiding
- Inheritance
- Polymorphism
Example Code
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main (int argc, const char * argv[]) {
NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
NSLog (@"hello world");
[pool drain];
return 0;
}
Foundation Framework
Foundation Framework provides large set of features and they are listed below.
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It includes a list of extended datatypes like NSArray, NSDictionary, NSSet and so on.
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It consists of a rich set of functions manipulating files, strings, etc.
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It provides features for URL handling, utilities like date formatting, data handling, error handling, etc.
Learning Objective-C
The most important thing to do when learning Objective-C is to focus on concepts and not get lost in language technical details.
The purpose of learning a programming language is to become a better programmer; that is, to become more effective at designing and implementing new systems and at maintaining old ones.
Use of Objective-C
Objective-C, as mentioned earlier, is used in iOS and Mac OS X. It has large base of iOS users and largely increasing Mac OS X users. And since Apple focuses on quality first and its wonderful for those who started learning Objective-C.