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Ask Slashdot: Which Classic OOP Compiled Language: Objective-C Or C++?

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-as-classic-as-COBOL dept.

Qbertino writes: I've been trying to pick up a classic, object-oriented, compiled language since the early 90s, but have never gotten around to it. C++ was always on my radar, but I'm a little torn to-and-fro with Objective-C. Objective-C is the obvious choice if you also want to make money developing for Mac OS X, but for the stuff I want to do, both languages would suffice on all platforms. I do want to start out on x86 Linux, though, and also use it as my main development platform. Yes, I know quite a few other languages, but I want to get into a widespread compiled language that has good ties into FOSS. Both Objective-C and C++ fit that bill. What do you recommend? How do these two programming languages compare with each other, and how easy is cross-platform development in either? (Primarily GUI-free, "headless" applications.)

3 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. C++ is the only logically option by ameoba · · Score: 5, Informative

    C++ is still very much a living, actively developed language. There's a lot of people using it for modern projects. It's well supported under pretty much all modern operating systems & you have excellent tools available under Linux.

    There's not a lot of reason to pick up Objective C unless you plan on targeting Apple. It's pretty much a dead language everywhere else, outside of a few niche projects.

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    my sig's at the bottom of the page.
  2. Re:c++? by menkhaura · · Score: 5, Informative

    Even for non-GUI work, Qt is a blessing if you want to do cross-platform programming. The library does a lot, ranging from database access to network programming, all in a very well documented and well thought out API.

    Good luck.

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    Stupidity is an equal opportunity striker.
    Fellow slashdotter Bill Dog
  3. Re:c++? by Jeeeb · · Score: 5, Informative

    Objective-C is an ugly, clunky language, and the only reason Apple uses it is to intentionally make your code incompatible with other platforms.

    I'm not a particular fan of Objective-C either but this is just wrong. Apple inherited Objective-C when they bought NextStep and used it as the foundation of OS X. OS-X got its start in life as a partial rewrite of the NS shell and the addition of some compatibility layers (Classic Mac OS, Java, .etc.) to make up for the lack of applications. At this stage, there would have to be really really major benefits to a rewrite to justify the direct cost, not to mention the opportunity cost.