what happened to objective-c?

Generated on 7/30/2024

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Objective-C has not been deprecated or removed, but its role has evolved significantly with the introduction and growth of Swift. Swift was created to be a more modern, safe, and expressive programming language, simplifying the process of writing software compared to Objective-C. Here are some key points about the transition and current state:

  1. Swift's Introduction and Evolution:

    • Swift was introduced to provide a safer and more expressive alternative to Objective-C and C. It has been designed to be approachable for newcomers while powerful for experts (Platforms State of the Union).
    • Over the years, Swift has evolved to include features like a stable ABI, concurrency model, and interoperability with C and C++ (What’s new in Swift).
  2. Interoperability:

    • Swift maintains interoperability with Objective-C, allowing developers to incrementally adopt Swift in their existing Objective-C projects. This means that Objective-C code can still be used and maintained alongside Swift code (What’s new in Swift).
  3. Foundation Rewritten in Swift:

    • The Foundation framework, which has a long history dating back to the beginning of Mac OS X, has been rewritten from legacy C and Objective-C into modern Swift. This rewrite aims to provide more consistent, higher quality, and better-performing APIs (What’s new in Swift).
  4. Swift's Adoption and Future:

    • Apple is committed to adopting Swift in its C codebases, and Swift is used throughout Apple's software stack, from apps and system services to frameworks and firmware. This commitment indicates a strong future for Swift as the primary language for Apple development (Platforms State of the Union).

In summary, while Objective-C is still supported and can be used, Swift is the preferred language for new development due to its modern features, safety, and performance benefits.