I’m sure much of the Cocoa code is quite old, but it’s mostly all Objective-C. If you’re curious how it might work, but don’t want to use a disassembler, the GNUstep project has a somewhat decent (though incomplete) reimplementation <https://github.com/gnustep/libs-gui> that you can look at.
Saagar Jha > On Oct 11, 2019, at 06:18, Turtle Creek Software via Cocoa-dev > <cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com> wrote: > >>> If you combine otool, classdump and Hopper Disassembler, you can find > how some Cocoa methods are working in any Obj-C executable pretty easily. > > Here's the thing. We started out as construction folks who learned Excel. > Then HyperTalk. Then C++. As a business, our main strength is knowing the > construction business, and how to talk to folks in it. Our time is best > spent solving business-related problems. Along the way we have learned > many programming and human-interface skills, but the less time we need to > spend on that, the better. > > If a programming environment requires zombies, disassemblers and other BS > just to make it work, that is a big problem. It's too much extra overhead. > Our company can't afford it. > > I'd agree that the documentation for Cocoa is deficient. > > CodeWarrior included a huge Inside PowerPlant book, modeled on our > well-worn copies of Inside Macintosh. But we rarely used it. Having > clearly-written source code and good comments is probably the best form of > documentation. Being able to step through it easily and see it in action is > a huge plus. > > I suspect that Cocoa source code is ancient C that is badly in need of a > refactoring. Making it open, understandable and self-documenting would be a > great way to improve it. Based on our refactoring experiences, it would > end up being faster, safer and less buggy. > > There probably are some parts of Cocoa that are extremely proprietary- but > even then, plain old patents are better than hiding the code, as a way to > protect the jewels. Competitors can always disassemble, as you suggest. > > Speaking of early-Aughties history. We hired some subs to write the Windows > version of our app. They took a short-cut and used QuickTime DLLs, though a > lot still needed native MFC. Metrowerks offered to buy it from us so they > could make PowerPlant cross-platform. Sadly, before we finished > negotiations, Motorola did a re-org and our contact disappeared. MW soon > sold off their Intel compiler, just in time for Mac to switch chips. The > rest is history. > > Casey McDermott > TurtleSoft.com > _______________________________________________ > > Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) > > Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. > Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com > > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/saagar%40saagarjha.com > > This email sent to saa...@saagarjha.com _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to arch...@mail-archive.com
