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Er. While I don't think that all applications should be constructed using C (I'm a fan of Clojure, JS, Python), clearly Apple'c choice of going with C (or a min

Er. While I don't think that all applications should be constructed using C (I'm a fan of Clojure, JS, Python), clearly Apple'c choice of going with C (or a minor variation of C, Objective-C) has paid off in spades. By innovating on C they have a fairly expressive and extremely performant application language. By adding blocks Apple has added a useful higher level construct as well as an excellent tool when writing concurrent applications without the burden of locks. Considering the fact that the iPhone is largely built on C, I would hardly call it the "wrong language for entire applications".

jrockway 17y ago
Wow, that's some pretty tasty kool aid there... One product didn't fail from using C, so it's a good idea in general? I think the iPhone's success is due to marketing, exploiting developer's existing knowledge, and good libraries... not the use of C.
- swannodette 17y ago
  If by one product you mean every machine running OS X - 40 million phones plus 10-20 million computers (if not much more) I'd say that's pretty tasty kool aid. In anycase it doesn't sound like you've done much Mac OS X programming, so you're just blowing smoke.
  - jrockway 17y ago
    I just don't buy the argument that users == good software. See also: PHP. Anyway, there's no point in arguing about this if you aren't going to say anything technical. OS X has users; yeah, I know. That doesn't say anything about Objective C other than that it is minimally effective. (I use an OS written in C. The programs crash all the time for no reason.)
    - dchest 17y ago
      Sorry for a personal note, but... "C is for the critical sections of video decoders, not for entire applications?" PHP is bad software? And you are the one who calls others kool-aid drinkers here? In my opinion, these are absolute statements that have no substance.
      - jrockway 17y ago
        OK, but it only means that you don't know much about C or PHP.

jrockway 17y ago

Wow, that's some pretty tasty kool aid there... One product didn't fail from using C, so it's a good idea in general? I think the iPhone's success is due to marketing, exploiting developer's existing knowledge, and good libraries... not the use of C.

swannodette 17y ago
If by one product you mean every machine running OS X - 40 million phones plus 10-20 million computers (if not much more) I'd say that's pretty tasty kool aid. In anycase it doesn't sound like you've done much Mac OS X programming, so you're just blowing smoke.
- jrockway 17y ago
  I just don't buy the argument that users == good software. See also: PHP. Anyway, there's no point in arguing about this if you aren't going to say anything technical. OS X has users; yeah, I know. That doesn't say anything about Objective C other than that it is minimally effective. (I use an OS written in C. The programs crash all the time for no reason.)
  - dchest 17y ago
    Sorry for a personal note, but... "C is for the critical sections of video decoders, not for entire applications?" PHP is bad software? And you are the one who calls others kool-aid drinkers here? In my opinion, these are absolute statements that have no substance.
    - jrockway 17y ago
      OK, but it only means that you don't know much about C or PHP.