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Understanding Objective-C Inside and Out (CodeM...

Jeff Kelley
January 09, 2014

Understanding Objective-C Inside and Out (CodeMash 2014)

How many times have you tried to debug something in Objective-C without really knowing *why* it works a certain way? Do you start sweating when Xcode throws linker errors your way, or when you have to mix ARC and non-ARC code? This talk will reveal how Objective-C works, what actually happens when your application is linked, and reveal what ARC is actually doing. Objective-C is a 30-year-old language, and it’s evolving faster than ever. We’ll look at the basics of the language, how properties and categories work, and cover advanced topics like creating classes at runtime, memory management and ARC, and tagged pointers. At the end of the talk, you’ll be able to diagnose issues with your app more quickly, dive into system components more readily, and have a better sense of why your code works.

Jeff Kelley

January 09, 2014
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  1. Housekeeping • Function vs. Method, argument vs. parameter! • This

    is not a talk about APIs! • This is a talk about everything Objective-C is built on
  2. Objective-C’s Beginning • Developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love

    in the early 1980s! • Originally OOPC, or Object Oriented Pre- Compiler! • Was originally a C precompiler!! • Acquired by NeXT in 1995! • Apple now owns Objective-C rights
  3. Why Objective-C? • Compatibility with existing C code! • Originally

    developed to work alongside telecom C code! • Brings in the object-oriented nature of Smalltalk
  4. Early Objective-C • Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser,

    WorldWideWeb, on a NeXT Cube in Objective-C in 1989/1990! • Let’s look at some source code!
  5. Early Objective-C - readPrintInfo /* * Sets the margin fields

    from the Application-wide PrintInfo. */ { id pi; float conversion, dummy; NXCoord left, right, top, bottom; ! [super readPrintInfo]; pi = [NXApp printInfo]; [self convertOldFactor:&conversion newFactor:&dummy]; [pi getMarginLeft:&left right:&right top:&top bottom:&bottom]; [leftMargin setFloatValue:left * conversion]; [rightMargin setFloatValue:right * conversion]; [topMargin setFloatValue:top * conversion]; [bottomMargin setFloatValue:bottom * conversion]; ! return self; }
  6. Basic C Example int main(int ac, char *av[]) { int

    a = 10; int b = 32; ! return a + b; }
  7. Basic C Function int add(int a, int b) {
 return

    a + b; } ! int main(int ac, char *av[]) {
 int a = 10; int b = 32; ! return add(a, b); }
  8. Basic C Function int add(int a, int b) {
 return

    a + b; } ! int main(int ac, char *av[]) {
 int a = 10; int b = 32; ! return add(a, b); }
  9. C printf Example #include <stdio.h> ! int main(int ac, char

    *av[]) { int a = 10; int b = 32; ! printf("a + b = %d\n", a + b); }
  10. objc_msgSend() • Finds the right method to call at runtime,

    sets everything up, and then runs it! • “crashes a lot”! • “Objective-C is slow”
  11. objc_msgSend() // 44 instruction bytes
 _objc_msgSend:
 testq %rdi, %rdi
 je,pn

    NIL
 testb $1, %dil
 jne,pn TAGGED
 movq (%rdi), %r11
 
 movq %rsi, %r10
 andl 24(%r11), %r10d
 shlq $4, %r10
 addq 16(%r11), %r10 fset
 
 cmpq (%r10), %rsi
 jne LOOP
 
 jmpq *8(%r10)
  12. Typedef Refresher • Typedefs let us refer to a type

    by another name (cue Shakespeare quote)
 typedef int foo;
 
 foo a = 42;
  13. Block Typedefs • We use blocks a lot, so we

    use typedefs to clear up the syntax
 typedef void(^CompletionHandler)(void);
 
 CompletionHandler handler = ^{ };
  14. Function Pointers typedef void(*CompletionHandler_f)(void); ! void HandleCompletion(void) { printf("I’m a

    C function!\n"); } ! int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { CompletionHandler_f handler = &HandleCompletion; handler(); }
  15. objc_msgSend() • To find the method, it calls other functions

    IMP class_getMethodImplementation(Class cls, 
 SEL name);
 typedef id (*IMP)(id, SEL, …);
 typedef struct objc_selector *SEL;
  16. Calling Private API Let’s call -recursiveDescription on a view.! !

    NSString *recursiveDescription =
 objc_msgSend(self.window,
 @selector(recursiveDescription));
  17. Calling Private API Let’s call -recursiveDescription on a view.! !

    SEL selector = @selector(recursiveDescription);
 
 IMP recursiveDescription_IMP =
 class_getMethodImplementation([self.window class],
 selector);
 
 NSString *recursiveDescription =
 recursiveDescription_IMP(self.window, selector);
  18. Casting objc_msgSend() NSArray *myArray = @[ @1, @2, @3 ];


    
 NSUInteger (*unsignedIntegerMessage)(id obj, SEL message) =
 (NSUInteger (*)(id, SEL))objc_msgSend;
 
 NSUInteger count = unsignedIntegerMessage(myArray,
 @selector(count));
  19. objc_msgSend() Family • id objc_msgSend(id self, SEL op, ...); •

    id objc_msgSendSuper(id self, SEL op, ...); • long double objc_msgSend_fpret(id self, SEL op, ...); • void objc_msgSend_stret(id obj, SEL op, ...);
  20. Memory Management typedef struct { char *name; int number; Position

    position; } BaseballPlayer; ! int main(int ac, char *av[]) { BaseballPlayer *miggy = malloc(sizeof(BaseballPlayer)); ! miggy->name = "Miguel Cabrera”; miggy->number = 24; miggy->position = thirdBase; ! free(miggy); }
  21. Reference Counting • We don’t want an object to get

    destroyed while we still need it! • If there is a pointer to it somewhere, we shouldn’t delete it! • Retain Count! • Starts at 1! • Increment when you store the object’s address in a pointer, decrement when you remove it or the pointer falls out of scope! • When it’s 0, the object is destroyed
  22. Properties @interface BaseballPlayer : NSObject ! @property NSString *name; @property

    NSNumber *number; @property BaseballPosition *position; ! @end
  23. Back in the day… @interface BaseballPlayer : NSObject { NSString

    *_name; NSNumber *_number; BaseballPosition *_position; } ! - (NSString *)name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)name; - (NSNumber *)number; - (void)setNumber:(NSNumber *)number; - (BaseballPosition *)position; - (void)setBaseballPosition:(BaseballPosition *)baseballPosition; ! @end
  24. Back in the day… @implementation BaseballPlayer ! - (NSString *)name

    { return _name; } ! - (void)setName:(NSString *)name { if (name != _name) { [_name release]; _name = [name retain]; } } ! - (NSNumber *)number { return _number; }
  25. Dynamic Classes • No, really, I need to modify the

    behavior of an object at runtime.! • Apple already does this with KVO! • So how do they do it?
  26. KVO in Action • First, the API creates a subclass

    of your class at runtime:! Class mySubclass =
 objc_allocateClassPair([NSObject class],
 "MySubclass",
 0);
  27. KVO in Action • Second, the API sets your object

    to this new class! object_setClass(object,
 mySubclass); • DO NOT set the isa pointer directly! •object->isa = mySubclass;
  28. KVO in Action • Third, the API implements the method(s)

    it wants to override:! - (void)setFoo:(id)foo
 {
 NSLog(@"About to set foo!");
 [super setFoo:foo];
 NSLog(@"Set foo!");
 }
  29. KVO in Action • Finally, the API overrides -class to

    hide what it’s done! • So -isMemberOfClass: still works for the original class
  30. Why would I need to do this? • Here’s an

    actual, real-life example of dynamic subclassing: Kiwi mocks! • In Kiwi, the BDD test framework, you can stub a method like this:! [viewController stub:@selector(view)
 andReturn:thisMockView];
  31. Why would I need to do this? • In production

    applications, you won’t need to do this too often! • But in testing, it’s invaluable! • Go see Amber Conville’s talk this afternoon!
  32. So How is Apple Still Using Objective-C? • As KVO

    illustrates, Objective-C is extremely capable of runtime hackery! • As the sole owner, Apple is free to make insane improvements to the language! • The isa pointer in 64-bit iOS! • Tagged Pointers! • Excellent tool development in LLVM/Clang
  33. Tagged Pointers • A pointer to an object will, due

    to alignment, have some extra bits! • The last bit is always 0… or is it?! • Apple sets the last bit to 1 and uses the remaining bits to store integers! • Looks and acts just like an NSNumber, but needs no additional storage
  34. Tagged Pointers • Don’t try to set the isa pointer.

    Bad things will happen.! • Best-case scenario: compiler error.! • 64-bit iOS means we get tagged pointers! • Performance/memory gains for free!
  35. LLVM/Clang Optimizations • Link-Time Optimization! • Applies compiler optimizations across

    source files, leading to huge potential gains! • New optimization level -Ofast! • Not suitable for scientific applications that need precise floating-point values
  36. Where is Objective-C Going? • Recent Objective-C developments have made

    developing faster! • Auto-synthesized property accessors! • ARC! • Packages! • Object Literals
  37. Where is Objective-C Going? • Recent Objective-C developments have reduced

    the cognitive load of the language! • ARC! • Packages! • Properties
  38. Where is Objective-C Going? • Future developments will likely continue

    down these paths! • My suggestion: get rid of pointers! • Other possibilities: automatic number boxing, better JSON parsing, etc.
  39. Q&A