Newbie questions

Sat Apr 1 00:00:00 GMT 2000

Hi,
 I'm an Obj-C developer (using gcc) over on the OS-X platform and 
I'm looking for migration and exit strategies for both myself and 
other developers in our market space. Apple's "commitment" to Obj-C 
is, well, let's call it "unclear". I'm both a compiler tech and Java 
newbie, so I'll ask for your forgiveness in advance if some of these 
questions are complete no-brainers.
 First and foremost I'm curious about the ability for gcj's 
compiled code to be used as libraries for Obj-C code on top. IE, if 
I were to use gcj and it's associated libs, what sort of work effort 
would it be to have them work as Obj-C libraries? Is library format 
an issue at all? (I'm assuming not, but I'll ask to be sure) Is the 
main issue going to be supplying a selection of wrappers in the form 
of .h files? It "feels" like there is a runtime changed needed to 
Obj-C, and I'm curious if anyone could comment on the level of change 
needed, if any?
 The other question I have relates to extensions and the legality 
thereof. We Obj-C developers have come to love the language's 
flexibility in terms of "weak" typing and notably in the form of 
categorization. It seems to me that if you're going to 
native-compile code anyway, extensions like this to Java would no 
longer break it's security orientation. Would it be possible to 
create a sub-standard, say "Obj-J", that would add in these features 
without ending up on someone's (like Sun's) *&%# list?
 This isn't quite as important to me, if I could use Obj-C over 
gcj's libs this may be a non-issue anyway. I ask simply because 
there may be uses who wish to stay completely in the Java syntax (for 
good reasons) but sill have access to some of the power of 
categorization, proxies, etc.
 BTW, kudos to all involved in this project. This is exactly the 
sort of practical response to the Java hype that I think the market 
needs. I'm still experimenting, but I think gcj's potential for 
mixing my compiled code against bytecode and compiled libs may be 
just the solution I'm (and I think many others) are looking for.
Maury