jpm@lanl.gov (James P Mcgee) (10/18/90)
I've got some Objective-C code that I'd like to port to my Macintosh. It doesn't do any graphics or other hard to port stuff, just a lot of message passing. The first thing I thought of was to buy Stepstones Objective-C compiler (which actually seems to be a translator that turns out ANSI C), translate to C on my NeXT, move the code to the Mac and compile it on Think-C. However, there are two stumbling blocks in this scheme: (1) Stepstone doesn't sell a compiler for the NeXT, and (2) the run-time system isn't available for the Mac. I thought I was on to something when the person at Stepstone mentioned that I could buy the source of the run-time library and port it to the Mac myself. But then she mentioned the price tag ($25K!!!). Apparently, another company in the same situation decided not to buy the source and rewrite it from the specs. Reportedly, they got about 1/3 of the way through it and gave up. So, it looks like Stepstone doesn't have any viable solutions, at least for my budget. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Can the compiler on the NeXT be persuaded to output ANSI C source code? Even if it can, what run-time support is needed? Does the gcc compiler understand objective-c yet? Has it been ported to the Mac? Thanks for any suggestions. Pat McGee, jpm@lanl.gov
lerman@stpstn.UUCP (Ken Lerman) (10/19/90)
In article <65994@lanl.gov> jpm@lanl.gov (James P Mcgee) writes:
->
->
-> I've got some Objective-C code that I'd like to port to my Macintosh.
->It doesn't do any graphics or other hard to port stuff, just a lot of
->message passing.
->
-> The first thing I thought of was to buy Stepstones Objective-C
->compiler (which actually seems to be a translator that turns out
->ANSI C), translate to C on my NeXT, move the code to the Mac and
->compile it on Think-C.
->
-> However, there are two stumbling blocks in this scheme: (1) Stepstone
->doesn't sell a compiler for the NeXT, and (2) the run-time system isn't
->available for the Mac. I thought I was on to something when the person
->at Stepstone mentioned that I could buy the source of the run-time
->library and port it to the Mac myself. But then she mentioned the price
->tag ($25K!!!). Apparently, another company in the same situation decided
->not to buy the source and rewrite it from the specs. Reportedly, they
->got about 1/3 of the way through it and gave up.
->
-> So, it looks like Stepstone doesn't have any viable solutions, at least
->for my budget.
->
-> Does anyone have any other suggestions? Can the compiler on the NeXT
->be persuaded to output ANSI C source code? Even if it can, what run-time
->support is needed? Does the gcc compiler understand objective-c yet? Has
->it been ported to the Mac?
->
-> Thanks for any suggestions.
->
->Pat McGee, jpm@lanl.gov
(Note that I work for, but don't speak for, Stepstone)
1 -- I believe the price of $25K is for the source of the compiler.
The source of the runtime is shipped with the binary of the compiler.
2 -- If you buy the compiler for DOS (I believe that is the least
expensive platform, call Stepstone for a price), you get the source of
the runtime. You could then cross compile from the DOS machine to
generate C source which could then be compiled on the Mac. (This
assumes all sorts of things about C language compatibility, etc.)
3 -- If you are an educational institution, you can get Stepstone's
products for 5% of list (does not include manuals, and there are
probably other limitations.)
4 -- If you do port the runtime, you might need a license from
Stepstone if you are going to sell copies of the binary (I really
don't know).
5 -- If you have technical questions about Objective-C, or about
porting it, send me mail, or address your questions to
hotline@stepstone.com
I hope this has been useful and not too commercial.
Kencox@stpstn.UUCP (Brad Cox) (10/20/90)
In article <65994@lanl.gov> jpm@lanl.gov (James P Mcgee) writes: > I've got some Objective-C code that I'd like to port to my Macintosh. >It doesn't do any graphics or other hard to port stuff, just a lot of >message passing. If you're not doing graphics, you don't need the graphical library, the expensive item you were thinking of. NeXT's compiler no longer generates ANSI C inso far as I'm aware, but all of Stepstone's compilers do. Everything you want to do is quite possible on nearly any machine, the only exception being NeXT should be (who chose to super-optimize the compiler, for their own presumably good and sufficient reasons). -- Brad Cox; cox@stepstone.com; CI$ 71230,647; 203 426 1875 The Stepstone Corporation; 75 Glen Road; Sandy Hook CT 06482
cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) (10/22/90)
there is a newsgroup called comp.sys.objective-c or some such which could be a source of benefit. -- Chuck Herrick cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu