
The legacy of NeXT lives on in OS X - thealphanerd
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/the-legacy-of-next-lives-on-in-os-x/?fb_action_ids=4017015587920&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%224017015587920%22%3A403518526395777%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224017015587920%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
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ams6110
WRT InterfaceBuilder/ProjectBuilder: _It was like a pricy IDE which they made
free for folks_

Certainly was not free at least initially, NeXT workstations cost thousands of
dollars (in 1980-1990 dollars) and NEXTSTEP software updates were not free
either (I think I paid ~$600 to upgrade from NEXTSTEP 2.1 to 3.something).

I guess in the sense that all these tools were included with the system it was
still a good deal compared to other alternatives at the time, when dev tools
were typically purchased separately from the OS.

~~~
Kronopath
Well, it was free to anyone who bought the system, right? It's the same way
it's done today: Macs aren't free, but anyone with a Mac gets the full version
of Xcode at no extra cost. Contrast that with Windows, that requires you to
pay hundreds or thousands for the "professional" versions of Visual Studio.

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ben1040
Relevant - this 20 year old video with Steve Jobs giving a demo of NeXTSTEP 3.
I first saw this after having bought a Mac running OS X 10.2 and was surprised
by how the user-facing stuff was still very similar to its roots (maybe not
nearly as much now).

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02b8Fuz73A>

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js4all
Why does the article link have facebook parameters? Is this an attack?

    
    
        fb_action_ids:4017015587920
        fb_action_types:og.likes
        fb_source:timeline_og
        action_object_map:{"4017015587920":403518526395777}
        action_type_map:{"4017015587920":"og.likes"}
        action_ref_map:[]

~~~
chc
It would appear at first glance that thealphanerd found the article through a
link on Facebook, so the URL contains their tracking code.

~~~
thealphanerd
oops

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Intermernet
_"Objective-C directly inspired Java and C# and has changed how almost
everyone programs, even if they’re not writing for Apple’s machines," said
developer Wil Shipley, who got his start writing software for NeXT computers._

I don't remember much talk of Obective-C when either Java or C# came out... I
remember people comparing Java to C and C++, and C# to Java, C, and C++, but
not really any mention of Objective-C. I actually remember researching
Objective-C when I saw references to it in the Linux Kernel's "make config"
and thought it was pretty awesome! but, still, I don't think the author's
statement is really that accurate.

~~~
jrajav
Java was influenced by Objective-C. First-hand evidence:
<http://cs.gmu.edu/~sean/stuff/java-objc.html>

_As it turns out, Sean and Tom are both absolutely correct. Usually, this kind
of urban legend stuff turns out to be completely inaccurate, but in this case,
they are right on. When I left Sun to go to NeXT, I thought Objective-C was
the coolest thing since sliced bread, and I hated C++. So, naturally when I
stayed to start the (eventually) Java project, Obj-C had a big influence.
James Gosling, being much older than I was, he had lots of experience with
SmallTalk and Simula68, which we also borrowed from liberally._

~~~
Intermernet
Thanks for the link! This is why I love HN... I learn something within 10
minutes of querying.

(By the way, I'll accept that if Java was inspired by Obj-C, then C# was, by
proxy)

As I said, I love Obj-C, I just heard nothing of it's inspirational nature in
the Java (or C#) release days, despite learning about it somewhere between
those two dates.

I type corrected!

~~~
chc
Well, nobody's going to tout "Our language was inspired by this weird,
unpopular little thing that lost _hard_ to C++" in their marketing materials,
which was pretty much the perception of Objective-C among the few who knew
about it at the time. Remember, in those days, C++ was king — it was basically
"the programming language for grown-ups" in a lot of people's minds — so Sun
wanted to encourage _that_ association above all others, even if it wasn't
really where the designers' heart lay.

