Agreed. When I first started out I never could have guessed it would become my favorite language. Apple did a lot of great things during my tenure writing ObjC - GCD and ARC are probably the best. I couldn't believe how easy it was to write performant code, both for powerful desktops and power-starved mobile devices.
It was the first place (pre-ARC) that I learned to manage my own memory, and the first (pre-GCD) that I learned to be as safe as possible in a multi-threaded environment.
If in fact Swift is the death-knell of Objective-C, I will be sad. I've written C and C++ and Python and Go and Scheme and Lisp and on and on (Java, C#...) and it will remain one of my favorites for years to come.
That is patently incorrect. If it were, horrific methods of execution would never be imagined or used as deterrent punishments throughout history. The method of execution can have a profound psychological impact on many different people in many different ways.
Further, if there was no difference to a victim or survivor between imprisonment and execution, we wouldn't have a death penalty debate at all.
It was the first place (pre-ARC) that I learned to manage my own memory, and the first (pre-GCD) that I learned to be as safe as possible in a multi-threaded environment.
If in fact Swift is the death-knell of Objective-C, I will be sad. I've written C and C++ and Python and Go and Scheme and Lisp and on and on (Java, C#...) and it will remain one of my favorites for years to come.