Objective-C
/ob-JEK-tiv see/ · noun · Development · Origin: 1984
Definitions
A superset of C that adds Smalltalk-style message passing, used as the primary language for Apple's macOS and iOS development before Swift. Objective-C's unusual bracket syntax and dynamic runtime made it distinctive but polarizing, and massive amounts of Apple platform code remain written in it.
In plain English: The older programming language Apple used for building iPhone and Mac apps before Swift came along, mixing C with a messaging system.
Example: We still have 200,000 lines of Objective-C in the app — the Swift migration will take another two years at least.
Origin Story
Smalltalk messaging grafted onto C for Apple's golden era
Brad Cox and Tom Love created Objective-C in the early 1980s by adding Smalltalk-style messaging to C. Cox described it as embedding Smalltalk's object system into C's procedural framework -- hence **Objective-C**, literally "C with objects."
The language might have remained obscure, but Steve Jobs adopted it for NeXT Computer in 1988. When Apple acquired NeXT in 1996, Objective-C came along and became the foundation of macOS and later iOS development.
Objective-C's square-bracket messaging syntax -- `[object doSomethingWith:parameter]` -- was distinctive and polarizing. Developers either loved its Smalltalk heritage or found it bewildering. Apple eventually replaced it with Swift in 2014, but millions of lines of Objective-C remain in production iOS apps.
Coined by: Brad Cox, Tom Love
Context: Productivity Products International, early 1980s
Fun fact: Brad Cox's original vision for Objective-C was 'software ICs' -- reusable software components that could be wired together like integrated circuits. This idea presaged modern component-based architectures by decades.