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I’m probably going to annoy Richard with this post, but who cares!

I’ve just done a bit of research into the Objective-C language, with the intention of using it as a replacement for C++. I managed to find a semi-decent tutorial here;. And my first impressions are: I hate it.

It looks like it has some pretty good functionality that C++ doesn’t have, but it’s syntax is so hideous to describe, that it just makes my eyes hurt. In fact, for it to call itself a “version” of C, then it is C with some serious bastardisation going on!

What I am looking for now, is something I’m going to casually refer to as “C++ Lite” – I want a language that:

• Has a C++ style syntax
• Supports classes with inheritance, polymorphism, etc
• Has a built in string type (i.e. Not a class wrapper around

  char*

  )

• Has support for simple array resizing
• Only supports pointers to objects (like Objective-C)
• Intelligent memory handling (e.g. garbage collection)
• Supports class level attributes (like Objective-C)
• Well supported on many platforms (and I mean very very many!)
• Compiles to native code
• And probably more things that I can’t quite think of….

I think essentially what I want, is a language that I can easily recognise as similar to C++; that is suitable for Application Level development (and not System Level – which is what C was originally designed for); that is well supported; and is a “nice” language to develop with (i.e. no hidden caveats, something quick and simple).

N.B. This post is delayed, see this post for more info! Originally written on 12th Apr 2006, 13:10