Yeah I was struck by that line too.

After 10 years as a C++ and Java developer, and 3 years of Objective-C, Objective-C is by far my preferred language (although it's an absolute must to use with an auto-completing IDE due to its wordiness).

I think it's mostly Obj-C's syntax is a bit of an oddity if you're a C/C++/Java/Python/Go (I think that's the main flavours in Google) developer who's never seen it before, but after spending some time in it it does make a lot of sense how it's been approached.

Plus isn't syntax mocking the same as editor mocking? Expected and pointless.

expected, pointless and not really taken seriously by anyone involved. it's just a fun social convention to identify with a team and mock the other team and it's adherents.

I went from SmallTalk to Java/C/C++ in the mid-nineties. Obj-C is both a relief and a constant source of frustration.

I'd expect Smalltalk programmers to find Obj-C syntax much more natural than Java, C#, or C++.

yes, but I get reminded every day how it is not SmallTalk.

e.g. the primitive vs. object distinction, the lack of closures (gcd is a poor replacement) and the way they allow a rethink of control flow, the neat things you can do because the stack is an object (restart exceptions with values! coroutines!)

I'm fine with the compromise, I just wish it was different.

I had hopes that MacRuby would turn into a supported systems programming language, but it's not to be.

It probably stems from the fact that few people learn Objective C first, where as most new programmers are started on Java, C, or C++. So Obj-C just looks strange because it's not what they're used to.

I thought it was weird at first too, but after learning Objective-c I can say that it is beautiful.