8.1.1. Modern GNU Objective-C Runtime API

8.1.1 Modern GNU Objective-C Runtime API

The GNU Objective-C runtime provides an API which is similar to the one provided by the “Objective-C 2.0” Apple/NeXT Objective-C runtime. The API is documented in the public header files of the GNU Objective-C runtime:

  • objc/objc.h: this is the basic Objective-C header file, defining the basic Objective-C types such as id, Class and BOOL. You have to include this header to do almost anything with Objective-C.
  • objc/runtime.h: this header declares most of the public runtime API functions allowing you to inspect and manipulate the Objective-C runtime data structures. These functions are fairly standardized across Objective-C runtimes and are almost identical to the Apple/NeXT Objective-C runtime ones. It does not declare functions in some specialized areas (constructing and forwarding m