Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. It was the primary language used by Apple for macOS and iOS operating systems prior to the introduction of Swift.
- Syntax & Messages:
- Square bracket syntax
[object message]. - Categories, protocols, blocks, properties.
- Square bracket syntax
- Memory Management:
- Historical Manual Reference Counting (retain, release, autorelease).
- ARC (Automatic Reference Counting): Modern compiler-assisted memory management.
- Cocoa & Cocoa Touch:
- Foundation framework (
NSString,NSArray,NSDictionary). - AppKit (macOS) and UIKit (iOS) development environments.
- Foundation framework (
- Interoperability:
- Mixing Objective-C and Swift within the same application.