34,333
edits
Changes
New page: Before learning the intricacies of a new programming language it is often worth taking a little time to learn about the history and legacy of that language. In this chapter of [[Objective-...
Before learning the intricacies of a new programming language it is often worth taking a little time to learn about the history and legacy of that language. In this chapter of [[Objective-C 2.0 Essentials]] we will provide a brief overview of the origins of Objective-C and the history that ultimately let to it becoming the programming language of choice for both Mac OS X and the iPhone.
== The C Programming Language ==
Objective-C is based on a programing language called, quite simply, ''C''. The origins of the C programming language can be traced back nearly 40 years to two engineers named Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson working at what is now known as AT&T Bell Labs. At the time, the two were working on developing the UNIX operating system on PDP-7 and PDP-11 systems. After attempts to write this operating system using assembly language (essentially using sequences instruction codes understood by the processor), it was decided that a higher level, more programmer friendly programming language was required. The first attempt was a language called ''B''. The ''B'' language, which was based on a language called ''BCPL'' was found to be lacking. Taking the next initial from the ''BCPL'' name, the ''C'' language was created and subsequently used to write much of the UNIX operating system kernel and infrastructure. As far as we can tell, ''C'' was so successful that new languages named ''P'' and ''L'' never needed to be created.
== The C Programming Language ==
Objective-C is based on a programing language called, quite simply, ''C''. The origins of the C programming language can be traced back nearly 40 years to two engineers named Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson working at what is now known as AT&T Bell Labs. At the time, the two were working on developing the UNIX operating system on PDP-7 and PDP-11 systems. After attempts to write this operating system using assembly language (essentially using sequences instruction codes understood by the processor), it was decided that a higher level, more programmer friendly programming language was required. The first attempt was a language called ''B''. The ''B'' language, which was based on a language called ''BCPL'' was found to be lacking. Taking the next initial from the ''BCPL'' name, the ''C'' language was created and subsequently used to write much of the UNIX operating system kernel and infrastructure. As far as we can tell, ''C'' was so successful that new languages named ''P'' and ''L'' never needed to be created.
