Re: OT! Small Language Rant
Re: OT! Small Language Rant
- Subject: Re: OT! Small Language Rant
- From: Chris Gehlker <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 15:47:43 -0700
On 7/16/01 2:05 PM, "Dr. Scott Steinman" <email@hidden> wrote:
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This is not to say that the Objective-C language cannot be improved. I
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think that its problems stem from its use of ANSI C as its underlying
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layer. Many of the things that C++ and Java added to C were intended to
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make "a better C" (e.g., declaring variables where you use them). These
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improvements were needed in C back then and they are still needed now! The
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Objective-C syntax should be updated to provide them. It's like going back
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to the early 1990's with a couple of OOP constructs thrown in.
I couldn't agree more. ObjC would be close to perfect if you could just
declare variables where you use them and if it had namespaces. Reference
variables would also be nice.
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My main gripe is that the Objective-C programming experience, not the
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language, needs the most improvement. Typing mistakes and frequent searches
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for the correct method names and argument labels waste a lot of my time!
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Project Builder really needs autocompletion of class names, object names,
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field names, method names, and method arguments. A pop-up list of the
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methods in a file would allow easier navigate through a source code file. A
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class browser is a must! Project Builder is one of the few programming
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tools I use now that doesn't have these features. The Project Builder team
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should be examining competitors' tools such as JBuilder or CodeWarrior and
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make the code editing experience less tedious and error-prone. I should
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also note that refactoring tools are becoming more prevalent for Java (and
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have been in existence for Smalltalk for a while). Project Builder is being
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left behind here too.
I wouldn't write Metrowerks off yet. I think they may produce a much better
IDE than PB for ObjC and a much better debugger than gdb.
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More complete documentation is also needed. Learning Cocoa and Apple's
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on-line tutorials are good for beginning to program Cocoa, but where's the
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intermediate to advanced material?
Amen.
--
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye
level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. -Henry
David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)