Objective-C Template

Overview

This project is an Objective-C template, ready to be used as a starting point for any Objective-C project. It uses only the libobjc runtime and is designed for portability and extensibility.

• A reusable custom root class, Root, which provides the foundation for any Objective-C project (object allocation, initialization, manual reference counting, and class name introspection).
• Sample subclasses: Parent (basic methods) and Child (inherits from Parent, overrides methods, demonstrates super).
• A main.m file that demonstrates usage.

The template is simple, portable, and enables Objective-C without the need for heavier libraries like Foundation or GNUstep.

Generic Abstractions

The template now includes reusable low-level abstractions that are useful beyond game projects:

• String: Minimal immutable string wrapper with C-string interop (fromCString, initWithCString, comparisons, lowercase conversion).
• List: Dynamic array of id objects with manual ownership semantics and predictable power-of-two capacity growth.
• Dictionary: String-keyed hash table (String * keys, id values) with open addressing and manual ownership semantics.

These are intentionally lightweight and runtime-only (libobjc), with no Foundation dependency.

Requirements

• Compiler: GCC with Objective-C support (gobjc).
• Runtime Library: libobjc (GNU Objective-C runtime).
• Development Environment: Linux-based system with make installed.

Constraints

• No use of high-level frameworks like Foundation or GNUstep.
• Object creation and management are handled using libobjc runtime APIs.
• The project is designed to be portable and minimal.

Project Structure

• src/Root.h / src/Root.m: Defines and implements the custom root class (Root).
• src/Parent.h / src/Parent.m: Sample subclass (Parent).
• src/Child.h / src/Child.m: Sample subclass (Child).
• src/String.h / src/String.m: Generic minimal string abstraction.
• src/List.h / src/List.m: Generic dynamic list abstraction.
• src/Dictionary.h / src/Dictionary.m: Generic hash-table dictionary abstraction.
• src/main.m: Entry point for the program.
• Makefile: Build, test, and run instructions.
• tests/: Unit tests (see below).

Unit Tests

Unit tests are provided for each class in the tests/ directory. Each test file (e.g., tests/root.m, tests/parent.m, tests/child.m, tests/string.m, tests/list.m, tests/dictionary.m) is a standalone program with its own main() function and assertions. Run all tests with:

make test

This will build and execute each test binary independently. All tests use only standard C and the same minimal runtime as the main code.

Build Instructions

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the project directory.
2. Run the following command to build the project:

   make

Run Instructions

After building, run the program with:

make run

Clean Up

To remove the compiled binary, run:

make clean