Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#1

Post by coob » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:26 AM UTC

Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)
ask.slashdot.org

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#2

Post by sohn » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:10 AM UTC

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#3

Post by dan1234 » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:14 AM UTC

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

"…and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C…"

Got any sources to back that up? I've often looked for numbers for ObjC vs PhoneGap vs Titanium vs etc comparisons but I've never managed to come up with anything conclusive.

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#4

Post by peteretep » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:17 AM UTC

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

6 months ago, there were 250 million iOS devices had been sold - that's iOS only, no Macs. I make that one for every 28 human beings on this planet. What number would tip this so that you considered Apple devices to be common?

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#5

Post by sipefree » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:18 AM UTC

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

> most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C

Yeah I'm going to call bullshit on that.

Bullshit.

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#6

Post by ralfd » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:19 AM UTC

Cool link and a flashback to 12 years ago. Who would have known?

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#7

Post by jopt » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:20 AM UTC

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

Do you have a source for that (iOS mostly

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#8

Post by Tichy » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:21 AM UTC

Is Objective-C really popular now? I mean would people volunteer to use it, if they weren't forced by Apple?

One indicator would be that there would be ports of Objective-C to many platforms, is that the case?

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#9

Post by rbarooah » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:22 AM UTC

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

Since you acknowledge that this is not the prevailing view, do you have any data or sources to support it?

Re: Why did Objective-C never catch on? (Ask Slashdot, Aug 2000)

#10

Post by vetinari » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:23 AM UTC

dan1234 wrote: post #3

sohn wrote: post #2

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

"…and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C…" Got any sources to back that up? I've often looked for numbers for ObjC vs PhoneGap vs Titanium vs etc comparisons but I've never managed to come up with anything conclusive.

I think that sohn's point is not that PhoneGap/Titanium/etc are more popular than they really are, but that most iOS apps are really written in C/C++ with only thin shim to interface with iOS where necessary (think games portable to other platforms).