Appendix The Objective-C Runtime
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” —Arthur C. Clarke
“Magic is dumb.” —Every engineer, ever
People who become programmers are often the sort of people who are dissatisfied with magic and with the statement, “It just works.” We want to know how and why it works.
This chapter will reveal some of the underlying mechanisms that make Objective-C programs “just work.” These mechanisms are part of the Objective-C Runtime.
The term “runtime” has multiple meanings. So far, we have used it to describe the time period during which your application is running on a user’s computer. Runtime is contrasted with “compile-time,” which is the period before running when you build ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access