CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++iosobjective-cxcodeobjective-c++
user9712197
user9712197

Reputation:

Developing for iOS in C++ (with/without Xcode)

What are the methods of developing for iOS with C++? I am familiar with using Objective-C++ within Xcode, by selecting Obj-C as my language when creating a new project, but what else is there. I know there are tools like Xamarin that allow for iOS development in C#, however i'm curious as to what officially supported ways of developing for iOS in C++ there are? Can an iOS app be written completely in C++ with no Objective-C and compile?

Upvotes: 7

Views: 9266

Answers (2)

H. Al-Amri
H. Al-Amri

Reputation: 189

Yes, you can even go to extreme lengths to avoiding Objective-C, you won't be able to do so completely since UIKit depends on it, but nearly every other framework has a C API. Take a look at this question and the answer to it How to write iOS app purely in C

C is not C++, but the answer will give you a hint on what you can do. It will involve including the objc runtime, and using objc_msgsend.

Upvotes: 0

Craig
Craig

Reputation: 3297

I have an app that pretty freely intermingles Objective-C (.mm files), Objective-C++ (.m files), and C++ (.cpp) as needed. The C++ code is legacy functionality that implements the heavy lifting of our app and has worked across a number of platforms for 20+ years. No need to re-implement that.

To write a C++ object in XCode, just do it. Create .cpp and .h files like you would anywhere else.

When you need to interact with a C++ object from Objective-C, you can either go into the properties of the .m file in XCode and change it to use the Objective-C++ compiler, or (better yet) just name it .mm instead of .m. Then you can include your C++ header files with standard #include statements, create C++ objects with new, delete them with delete, and access members with dot notation and pointer notation just like you would from C++.

Objective-C is a lot easier to use when dealing with the UI and system calls. It isn't hard to learn. There are probably ways to access all of those objects and methods from C++, but the gymnastics you would have to do each time might make it easier to simply learn enough Objective-C (or Swift) to do those parts in the language Apple intended. (Keep in mind that to figure out how to do everything in C++ while looking at sample code and documentation that assumes Objective-C or Swift, you're going to have to master those languages anyway.)

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions