CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-c
Barry
Barry

Reputation: 1820

How does Objective-C get updated? Are there versioned releases? What is the current 'version'?

I have been trying to answer this question and looking at google/wikipedia etc but have not been able to determine this. On wikipedia I see a reference to Objective-C 2.0 but thats about it. I am curious for example in Xcode 7 there were some new features available for Objective-C like lightweight generics and __kindof. Did these exist before and they were just made available via Xcode in v7? Or did the language change? I tried to find a version history or information on releases but so far have come up with nothing. Swift is clearer on versions/releases and I keep asking myself if I am missing something related to Objective-C since I can't find this information. Does Objective-C update with Xcode releases or can the language evolve on its own?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 252

Answers (2)

matt
matt

Reputation: 535140

in Xcode 7 there were some new features available for Objective-C like lightweight generics and __kindof. Did these exist before and they were just made available via Xcode in v7? Or did the language change?

To that extent, yes, the language did change.

The best way to research this sort of feature is by going through the Release Notes for Xcode. Thus, the features you are talking about appear here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Xcode/Conceptual/RN-Xcode-Archive/Chapters/xc7_release_notes.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016994-CH5-SW1

There is actually an Objective-C section with a subsection "Objective-C Language Changes". That pretty much tells you this was a change in the language!

Changes since then are listed here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/DeveloperTools/RN-Xcode/Chapters/Introduction.html

Of those, the most significant is probably the advent of class properties.

All these changes took place primarily to enhance Swift compatibility, and I think we may expect that all changes in Objective-C going forward will be for that purpose.

Upvotes: 4

Sulthan
Sulthan

Reputation: 130102

Objective-C is a very simple language. It's just a very thin layer on top of the C language. It's very important to realize that if C changes, Objective-C also changes. You can actually select which C dialect will be used for your Obj-C compiler. In that sense Objective-C changes all the time.

If we are speaking only about the object layer, there is no official specification, no discussion groups (e.g. as we have for Swift). It's not open-source. Practically speaking, current Obj-C features are exactly what the Apple's version of LLVM-Clang compiler has implemented (that is, what is shipped with Xcode). And LLVM documentation is where you can find the most interesting pieces of information about Obj-C features.

Obj-C changes a bit with every Xcode release although nowadays new features usually mean more attributes/annotations that can improve code analysis and provide more information to Swift. There is no official version number.

Objective-C has reached a state when it can't be really improved any more. It needs to support everything in C, it has to be backward compatible and its dynamicity makes it very hard to check types. That's exactly the reason why Apple has introduced a new language.

Upvotes: 3

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