Re: Apple to open source Swift later this year with support for iOS, OS X, and Linux

[Lars Sonchocky-Helldorf]

Am 08.06.2015 um 22:29 schrieb Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller:

> Am 08.06.2015 um 21:13 schrieb Lars Sonchocky-Helldorf 
> <lars.sonchocky.helldorf@gmail.com>:
> 
>> In case you don't know already …
>> 
>> http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/06/08/apple-to-open-source-swift-later-this-year-with-support-for-ios-os-x-and-linux
>> 
> 
> Interesting move,
> 
> But I doubt that Gregory’s efforts for Phoenix were the driving factor as 
> someone
> wrote on Twitter…
> 
> Anyways, I still prefer Objective-C 1.0 for its expressive power and 
> readability (Obj-C 2.0 is
> IMHO a little less readable for me and SWIFT even more).
> 
> But, the language itself is becoming less and less important since the 
> frameworks (${somethingKit)
> are the key to an OS. And OS X / iOS is getting more and more every year.
> 
> Well, I know what I am talking about. Not yet in the public until now. I have 
> rewritten some of
> the important frameworks of QuantumSTEP in PHP.
> 
> PHP????
> Are you kidding???
> 
> No. As said, the language isn’t that important. The architecture of the 
> ${something}Kit is.
> 
> And I am using it to make my Web Pages now. Writing .app bundles using the 
> same high level
> abstraction of NSView, NSUserDefaults, NSBundle, NSFileManager, etc. Using 
> the same logic as a
> desktop .app. No need to fiddle around with <div> and <span> etc. Just once 
> to get the AppKit.php
> working. And theming is done by some CSS.
> 
> The NSGraphicsContext has become a NSHTMLGraphicsContext and it generates 
> HTML to control
> the remote display server (commonly known as “Browser”). Instead of Display 
> Postscript or
> Cairo or X11-Protocol.
> 
> Yes, there are some tricks (and limitations) to squeeze HTTP&HTML into the 
> Foundation/AppKit
> metaphor but it works astonishingly well and the key benefit is to keep the 
> code for .app bundles
> small.

Well, I don't get this one. What you're doing is sort of reinventing WebObjects 
(GNUstepWeb) using PHP. And then there is http://phocoa.com/ 

But in a way I am not surprised. You're Dr. Schaller, well known for inventing 
stuff for yourself … ;)


> 
> Some code can be found here:
> 
>       
> http://git.goldelico.com/?p=mySTEP.git;a=blob;f=AppKit/Sources/AppKit.php;hb=HEAD
> 
> So back to the topic: SWIFT will attract more developers to the MacOS / iOS 
> ecosystem. But detract
> some from GNUstep (unless GNUstep gets SWIFT bindings). Since people like to 
> express themselves
> in their favorite language. And use common building blocks. Like LEGO is 
> worldwide but the user manual
> is translated into many mother languages…
> 
> BR,
> Nikolaus

cheers,

        Lars