Objective C

[Seattle Slim]

I see some comments about Objective C or Cocoa however their does note seem to be a specific area for such comments. Objective C would be a good listing below the other languages. Any serious OSx iPad or iPhone developers would look here first for information. Since there is more and more of a move to support Apple Development - consider it please.

[JamieLynnSEO]

Not a bad idea...

[cscgal]

We already have a Mobile Development forum and it is not very active at all. I'd like to see some more activity revolving around mobile dev before we would consider adding additional forums to cater to it.

[jonsca]

@OP I think they've only been answered occasionally, but people have posted Obj-C questions in both C and C++. So, there are higher traffic forums, besides MD, for posts about that topic.

[Seattle Slim]

Objective C is a language that is used for more than just a mobile forum.

Let me ask you what is the difference between a NSString, CString, String, or string. How do you trim, concatenate, convert to char array, to TCHAR, wchar etc. If you are accessing a MS SQL Server, MySQL, or Oracle you better know and you had better know how each type of these strings will be used. Objective C, C#, MFC, or the std all vary so you cannot answer intelligently if you do not know the language. Objective C has a comparable string component for each of these, but you better know what you are doing!

It shows a lack of understanding to have a section on C, another on C++, and yet another on C#, and then one on Java, and hope that it covers Objective C too. C#, C, and C++ is not the language of choice for OSx, and is not supported for iOS environments. These others do not access the SDK and API necessary to write applications for any serious Apple products.

I develop in all of the above languages on more than one platform (Linux, Windows, OSx etc). You recently sent a post asking for content of value as Google is showing a lack of interest in you. You want interest then support what people are looking for. Objective C is one of the top 10 programming languages and growing

A bottleneck is always at the top - think about it. What is limiting your traffic flow - a simple menu change?

[Seattle Slim]

We already have a Mobile Development forum and it is not very active at all. I'd like to see some more activity revolving around mobile dev before we would consider adding additional forums to cater to it.

C# is not C, or C++ or Java. Objective C is none of them either. Nor is it a mobile platform language any more than C and C++ are. I have written several published articles on the subject of development and the environments used for such, and one thing you learn quickly is that each language is unique and serves a beneficial purpose.

Objective C is the language of choice for all OSx, iOS, Mac, iPhone, and iPad development. C++ and C are not, nor are they mobile languages only, but you can use them to do Windows mobile code. MS Office 2011 was written using Objective C, not C#, C, nor C++. Yet Microsoft's code base for these product is in C and C++ with some minimal C#. Why did Microsoft use Objective C to develop Office 2011 for OSx?

Do not expect that it is web based and do not expect that it can be covered in a C or C++ topic environment anymore than the other above mentioned languages.

[jonsca]

Easy there, I don't think anyone was putting the language down at all. I was just offering you a suggestion based on where people have posted questions about it in the past.

I understand what you mean about all of the C "family" being unique languages.

I don't speak for the site in any way shape or form, so I'll defer to Dani for the rest of the discussion.

[Seattle Slim]

My words are not meant to be harsh. They are meant to make a point. You are burying a language that will bring you traffic. If it is quickly obvious that Objective C questions are answered hear you will expose yourself to a growing market of Apple Developers. But you won't if those who are searching see it as an ocassional topic of conversation, the same as if Java were discussed in the C# section

[Momerath]

We already have a Mobile Development forum and it is not very active at all. I'd like to see some more activity revolving around mobile dev before we would consider adding additional forums to cater to it.

But, the fact that you don't have a forum for it might be the reason there is not much traffic around it. People might come here, see that there is no place specifically for their problem then move on.

For example, I don't see anything about F# being posted here, but there are many active F# forums out there. Does the lack of a specific F# forum stop people from posting about it (who wants to post in Legacy or Other Languages)? If you had an F# forum would that drive more traffic to Daniweb (and more revenue)? Why the reluctance to create more forums, does having more forums affect something that we aren't aware of?

[~s.o.s~]

Why the reluctance to create more forums, does having more forums affect something that we aren't aware of?

At least from a moderation viewpoint, it amounts to more house keeping which needs to be taken care of. Plus, it's not like it was always this way in the past. Forums *were* created based on user request. But it turns out that the forum is created, it receives little or no activity and becomes target for link spam which might go on unnoticed for a long time.

Another point is having expertise in a given area. Most of the times it turns out that a new forum is created, the member who requested the forum creation actively answers questions on that forum and suddenly disappears. This results in the forum being filled with regulars who are seeking help rather than someone who is capable of resolving them. I know it has to start *somewhere* and it is worth a try but our previous experience has been pretty bad with this stuff.

[jon.kiparsky]

There's always a design cost to having more subdivisions. Navigation becomes painful if you have a forum for every language, and it becomes harder to keep track of potentially interesting fora, so it seems sensible to make sure that any forum created is actually needed.

As Sanjay points out, there's also a problem if you create a forum without having anyone willing to monitor it and make sure that questions are addressed and spam is tagged. Vacant lots can become gardens or playgrounds, but they also attract weeds. If you're going to make a vacant lot, you have to make sure you have someone weeding it and picking up the broken glass.

I'd suggest that if there are, say, three people knowledgeable in objective-c development who are willing to monitor such a forum and make sure that questions are answered and tag any spam that turns up, then it would make sense to create such a forum on a trial basis.
If it's a vacant lot a year from now, nuke it. If it's becoming a garden or a playground, then that's a win.

[Seattle Slim]

Well I have presented my argument. I think you would be benefited with specific attention to the language.

I will offer my support for Objective C, MFC, C++, C, and C#, but I will not expend any energies anymore on this subject.

[Seattle Slim]

If we would actualy spend as much time focusing on accurate knowledge of our subjects as we do on mundane power plays over a menu. No wonder your site is dead it has little to know technical value and a lot of stored nonsense.

[jonsca]

Dude, no one is holding you captive here, the site will be fine, thanks.

It's "little to no", by the way.

[jon.kiparsky]

I think your timing might not be the best for getting a new forum implemented - between the google issue and the weird issues over the last few days, I think your request is likely to stay on the "to do" list for a little while.

If you're going to see some action on this, it'll likely be after I stop getting notifications of postings that appeared four days ago. :)