Is it possible to obtain an intermediate C code from Objective-C?

Question

As I understand correctly, besides the fact that Objective-C language is a strict superset of a "clean" C, added OOP paradigm is simulated by a set of functions partially described in Objective-C Runtime Reference.

Therefore, I'm expecting a possibility to somehow compile Objective-C code in an intermediate C/C++ file (maybe with some asm inserts).

Is it generally possible ?

Answer 1

You could use the clang rewriter to convert to C++. Not aware of a way to go to C though.

The rewriter is available via the "-rewrite-objc" command line option.

Answer 2

As far as I know, there is no software that preprocesses Objective-C code into intermediate C code.

But you could write your Objective-C program entirely in C by calling directly into the Objective-C runtime. The trouble is just that the code might vary between implementations or even different versions of the same runtime.

The question is, is it actually worth the trouble?