Objective-C — the programming language used to build applications for the Apple iPhone and iPad — is now the third most popular language on Earth, according to a new study.
Moving into the third spot in the oft-cited TIOBE index, Objective-C has surpassed C++, another derivative of the venerable C programming language.
C itself is still at the top of the list, followed by Java.
Just a year ago, Objective-C was ranked 46th on TIOBE’s list, and its sudden rise is all about Apple. “This is less about Objective-C and more about the success of the Apple ecosystem,” says Nolan Wright, the technology chief at Appcelerator, an outfit offering a development tool that spans various languages and platforms. “Objective-C is enjoying that benefit. If it had been another language [on the Apple platform], it would have enjoyed that too.”
Programming language popularity (click to enlarge). Credit: TIOBE Software
Apple settled on Objective-C because it was the language of choice on the NeXTSTEP operating system, which was developed by Steve Jobs and his NeXT Inc. in the mid-1980s and later became the basis for Apple’s Mac OS X operating system as well as iOS, the operating system that drives the iPhone and the iPad.
Originally developed in early ’80s by two developers at a company called Stepstone — Brad Cox and Tom Love — Objective-C was barely on TIOBE’s radar in the summer of 2008. But then Apple launched the iPhone App Store.
Now, according to the TIOBE Index — which surveys engineers and crawls the web for code — Objective-C accounts for 9.3 percent of the world’s software, while C++ stands at 9.1 percent. And a second survey, the Transparent Language Index, puts Objective-C at 9.2 percent and C++ at 7.9 percent.
Though the Apple App Store is the main reason for the recent rise of the language, Eric Shapiro, technology chief of app developer ArcTouch, also argues that the language is easier to use than most. “Almost anybody can just pick up a book and learn [Objective C] basics,” he tells Wired. “That doesn’t make you an expert, but that does mean that so many more [developers] are familiar.”
There’s still a learning curve, says Appcelerator’s Nolan, but once you climb it, you benefit from, well, Apple. “Apple probably has the most developed developer ecosystem,” he says. “Once people get passed that learning curve, people tend to really enjoy the language.”
But Objective C is unlikely to surpass the popularity of Java anytime soon. Unlike Objective C — which is predominantly used build “front-end” software on devices such as the iPhone — Java is a mainstay on servers running “back-end” software that feed online services to phones, tablets, and PCs. Plus, it’s the language used to build applications on Google’s Android mobile operating system.
Despite the popularity of Apple’s mobile gadgets, Android is the most widely used mobile operating system — at least in the US.
Source: wired