Re: Talks about HTTP server (Was: Re: Function move request.)

[Lars Sonchocky-Helldorf]

Am 16.05.2013 um 21:50 schrieb Maxthon Chan:

> Well it turned out that my darned project is forced into using CoreFoundation 
> (I need CFRunLoop to manage some BSD sockets' lifetime, as it is a portable 
> HTTP server written in Objective-C.)
> 
> If I recalled right, the first HTTP stack is written in Objective-C, on a 
> NeXT box.
> 
> I have some web development experienced with ASP.net (as my current website 
> homepage is written in C# hosted on a Linux server using Mono) while the web 
> development suite for Objective-C, an equally powerful language as C#, is 
> pretty much dead.
> 
> I analysed and discovered that in order to get the most out of ASP.net, 
> Microsoft written their IIS in .net (version 7 up, I have a copy of Windows 
> Server 2012 as a secondary OS on my MacBook Pro and the IIS 8 shipped with it 
> is pretty much all .net).
> 
> This lead me to think: can I write an equally powerful HTTP server in an 
> equally powerful language, Objective-C, given its significance in the history 
> of World Wide Web.
> 
> And since the Objective-C language have improved vastly over decades, can I 
> implement something similar to ASP.net, hosted on this server which is itself 
> written in Objective-C?

Have you ever heard of WebObjects? WebObjects was started by NeXT in 1995 and 
is an object oriented web framework originally written in ObjC (up to version 
4.5) but nowadays in Java (up to version 5.4.3) While still in use at Apple 
internally (for the iTunes Store for instance) the last public release was in 
2008 and it has been deprecated by Apple. Never the less it is still one of the 
most advanced web frameworks out there. Nowadays it is still in use in several 
companies (like the one I work for) and has been extended by a community driven 
effort (Project WOnder).

And now the best part: There is an free software clone of WebObjects 4.5 
available. It is called GNUstepWeb. Get it here:

http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/GNUstepWeb
http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/libs/gsweb/trunk/

The documentation is still available at Apple:

http://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/#documentation/LegacyTechnologies/WebObjects/WebObjects_4.5/webobjects.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006775

cheers,

        Lars