Why the macros in Objective-C / Cocoa?

Posted by Joe on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Joe
Published on 2010-05-19T14:38:22Z Indexed on 2010/05/19 14:40 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 273

Filed under:

objective-c

|

macros

I'm coming from a place without macros (Java/Python/C#/Scala) so perhaps my perspective is distorted but...

Why are macros used in Cocoa? Two that spring to mind are NSLocalizedString and NSAssert (and STAssert). Would it be so hard / unsuitable to make them functions (which could be inlined)? I suppose I find them a little bizarre as an unnecessary throw-back to C (and yes, I am familiar with the pedigree of Obj-C).

Is it just something that was done back in the day or is there a specific reason?

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about objective-c

Blocking access to websites with objective-C / root privileges in objective-C

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I am writing a program in Objective-C (XCode 3.2, on Snow Leopard) that is capable of either selectively blocking certain sites for a duration or only allow certain sites (and thus block all others) for a duration. The reasoning behind this program is rather simple. I tend to get distracted when I… >>> More
Objective-C with some Objective-C++, calling a normal c++ method "referenced from" problem

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I made an Objective-C project for the iPhone. I had only one cpp class, the soundEngine taken from some Apple demo. Now I'm trying to merge OpenFeint which is coded in Objective-C++. As soon as I drop in the code without even referring to it from my code, when I hit Build, my Objective-C code… >>> More
Add an objective @property attribute in objective-c

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Does anyone know of a way to add additional attribute types to the @property keyword without modifying the compiler? Or can anyone think of another way to genericize getter/setter creation? Basically, I have a lot of cases in a recent project where it's handy for objects to lazily instantiate their… >>> More
ObjectiveC Syntax for Specifying Protocol Name in Method Argument

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
What's the ObjectiveC syntax for specifying a protocol as an argument in a method? Say I have 2 protocols, MyProtocol and MyProtocolCB: @protocol MyProtocolCB <NSObject> - (void) func; @end @protocol MyProtocol <NSObject> - (void) register:(MyProtocolCB*) cb; @end I'm receiving this… >>> More
ObjectiveC builtin template system ?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I am developing an iPhone application and I use HTML to display formatted text. I often display the same webpage, but with a different content. I would like to use a template HTML file, and then fill it with my diffent values. I wonder if ObjectiveC has a template system similar to ERB in Ruby. That… >>> More

Related posts about macros

"macros have been disabled" message in Word 2007 but no macros

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi there, I open a .doc file in Word 2007 (sorry I am unable to supply the .doc) which pops up with a message above the document "Security warning: Macros have been disabled" but there are no macros shown in the macros listing and no functionality displayed in the VBScript editor. Why does Word… >>> More
Avoiding symbol capture when using macros to generate functions (or other macros)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm a bit confused as to exactly when symbol capture will occur with clojure macros. Suppose that I have a macro which defines a function from keywords. In this trivial example, (defmacro foo [keywd1 keywd2] `(defn ~(symbol (name keywd1)) [~(symbol (name keywd2))] (* 2 ~(symbol… >>> More
Macros's that define macros

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Does anyone know how to pull off something like this... I have alot of repetitive macros as : - #define MYMACRO1(x) Do1(x) #define MYMACRO2(x,y) Do2(x, y) #define MYNEXTMACRO1(x) Do1(x) #define MYNEXTMACRO2(x,y) Do2(x, y) The code above works fine, but I want to write a macro… >>> More
makefile: how to call macros in macros

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello, I have the following macros in my make file: pdf: // do something clean: // just another fancy thing No I want to declare a macro all: which include (or call) the makros above. The following thing doesn't work: all: pdf: clean: I don't want to repeat the code from pdf:… >>> More
Macros in macros (C++)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Is it possible to put a macro in a macro in c++? Something like: #define Something\ #ifdef SomethingElse\ //do stuff \ #endif\ I tried and it didn't work so my guess is it doesn't work, unless there's some sort of syntax that can fix it? >>> More