Objective-C programming language

Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. It served as the primary language for Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems and their respective application programming interfaces (APIs) before the…

Key facts

First appeared: 1983
Category: technology
Problem solved: Objective-C was created to bridge the gap between the power and efficiency of C and the abstraction and reusability benefits of object-oriented programming. It aimed to make it easier to build complex, maintainable, and extensible software, especially graphical user interfaces, which were challenging to develop with C alone.
Platforms: tvOS, OpenStep, iOS, watchOS, GNUstep (Unix-like systems), macOS

Related technologies

UIKit
Foundation Framework
LLVM/Clang
Cocoa Touch
Core Data
Cocoa
Grand Central Dispatch (GCD)
Interface Builder
Xcode

Notable users

Apple Inc.
NeXT Inc.