How to Start Learning Objective C on Windows

Objective C is an object-oriented programming language that relies on a class structure.

Objective C is an extension of the C programming language specific to the Mac OS family of operating systems. Developers use Objective C to develop apps for Macs, the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, many programmers might like some flexibility in their development environment. Perhaps you are a Windows user, for example, who would like to develop apps for the iPhone. Download the proper programming environment and learn Objective C on your nonMac system.

Instructions

1. Download the GNUStep environment from gnustep.org. The GNUStep project contains the code and Application Programming Interfaces commonly referred to as the Cocoa environment. You must use this environment to run Objective C code on a Windows computer. Follow the Windows download link, and make sure to download and install the "MSYS system," "Core" and "Devel" binary packages.

2. Write a basic Objective C program. Open Notepad or the code editor or your choice. Enter the following example code, which represents a typical "hello world" script. Save the file as "hello.m" in the C:\ directory of your PC.

   #import <stdio.h>

   int main(int argc, const char *argv[]){

   printf("Hello World!\n");
   return 0;
   }

3. Compile and run the code in GNUStep. Open the GNUStep shell from "Start | Programs | GNUStep| Shell." The shell appears in a terminal with a command prompt. Enter the command "cd C:\" to navigate to your computer's main directory. The "hello.m" file should reside at this location. In the GNUStep shell, enter the following command to compile an output file from the source code:

   g++ hello.m

   Finally, execute the output file by entering the command "a.exe" into the GNUStep shell. The terminal should display the message "Hello World!"

4. Learn the fundamentals of the C language and object-oriented programming, including concepts such as objects, methods, scope, classes and instantiation. These are essential to acquiring a solid grasp of Objective C.

5. Learn the distinctive features of Objective C. A thorough Objective C tutorial exists at Cocoa Dev Central, and there are many other Objective C tutorials on the Internet.

Tips & Warnings

• With the GNUStep environment installed, you can use the environment to write and learn Objective C code. Otherwise, you cannot compile or run code written in Objective C on a Windows system.

References

• GNUStep: Overview

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Cocoa Dev Central: Learn Objective C