Tags: objective-c | ubuntu

Here's a handy tip I've gleaned from the Ubuntu Forums. This will allow you to program and run basic Objective-C on Ubuntu Intrepid. Read on after the fold...

1) Install the GNU Objective-C compiler:

sudo apt-get install gobjc

2) Write a quick bit of test code:

// hello.m
#import <objc/Object.h>
#import <stdio.h>

@interface Number: Object
{
@public
    int number;
    
}
- (void)printNum;

@end

@implementation Number: Object

- (void)printNum
{
    printf("%d\n", number);
}

@end

int main(void)
{
    Number *myNumber = [Number new]; // equal to [[Number alloc] init]
    myNumber->number = 6;
    [myNumber printNum];
    return 0;
}

3) Compile it:

gcc -o hello hello.m -Wall -lobjc

4) Run it...!

./hello 

I'll leave it to the astute reader to figure out what it does.

The main problem with seems to be that you can't (quite obviously) use the iPhone foundation libraries. But for something to knock code into quickly to see if it runs its quite handy. Its also handy to learn the basics of Objective-C when you don't have a Mac around.