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Do I really have to learn Objective-C to develop solid Mac Apps?
As Mac users tend to use only applications that have a nice (native) GUI, i don't think that Mono and GTK+ or any Java GUI (Swing) will fit their needs.
There are projects like Cocoa#, PyObjC and RubyCocoa, but are they ready for primetime?
So do I really have to learn Objective-C ? I would prefer a dynamic language.
712
I recommend you learn Objective-C when required. It's common that you'll have to work in a hybrid codebase consisting of old code in Objective-C and new code in Swift. Another reason you could need to know Objective-C is if you're working on older open source projects written in Objective-C.
When Objective-C migration is perfect and developers beg managers for permission, Apple will say, "You should really be using Swift", and discourage Objective-C. Years later, it may be deprecated, but it never will be removed. It powers iOS, and years after deprecation OS X still runs bits of Carbon.
If you want to get work done, Objective-C is the way to go. Swift is the new kid on the block, but it's still a kid. If you want to get work done, Objective-C is the way to go. At the time of writing, Apple's software development kits are primarily written in C and Objective-C.
It's a good idea to learn C before learning Objective-C, which is a strict superset of C. This means that Objective-C can support all normal C code, so the code common to C programs is bound to show up even in Objective-C code.
Objective-C is a dynamic language, as far as the Objective-C parts go. Here's a little summary article: http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/04/28/objective-c.html
The syntax is scary at first, but it grows on you. I suggest biting the bullet and slogging through it.
If you want to work at a "real job" doing Mac programming with other people, you're going to need to know Objective-C (in my opinion, anyway).
114
I think the short answer is yes, you need to learn Objective-C.
The Python and Ruby "bridges" work, but it's not what Apple is pushing or using itself. A few years ago there was a Java bridge to Cocoa but that's now deprecated. Who knows what will happen to the non-ObjC languages?
In any case, Objective C is pretty dynamic. Not in the way that Ruby/Python are perhaps, but it's certainly not like C++.
24
Short answer: YES :)
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