Re: Debian12 repository.

[Andreas Fink]

its not only about converting your code. There is a gazillion of libraries which users use which had been developed by others. Converting everything backwards is a drawback.

Think of if you try to convert the linux kernel back to K&R C. Its doable but its a very bad idea.

My main app originally was in C. I moved to ObjectiveC due to its excellent memory mansgement. Never the less I managed to forget a few release calls eating up memory. ARC has severely simplified my life. Going back would mean changing 500'000 lines of code. Errors will sure be created.

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Sent from Canary

On Montag, Nov. 20, 2023 at 4:33 PM, H. Nikolaus Schaller <hns@goldelico.com> wrote:

Am 20.11.2023 um 16:10 schrieb Andreas Fink <afink@list.fink.org>:

Without support for ARC, the vast majority of code written in the past 15 years will not work (or eat memory without ever freeing it up). Apple's reference guide to Objective C 2.0 which introduces ARC is from 2008!

Well, if you know the alloc/retain/release/copy rules it is just some diligent work to convert ARC to MRC code. Has to be done once and believe me, I have done it several times. Wasn't difficult. Then also/still runs on macOS.

But you are right, if ObjC 2.0 was introduced 15 years ago it is only us "old-timers" who still know the MRC rules. Although Linux kernel programmers should also be familiar with get/put calls for refcounting. And their devm mimicks the ARP.

BR,
Nikolaus