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One of the things I like about Objective-C is the use of infix arguments when calling a method.

[myDictionary setObject:myObject forKey:@"key"];

where the method name is setObject:forKey:.

Does any other language do this?

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  • Other languages tend to achieve this with named arguments, and typically make its use optional.
    – rwong
    May 24 '15 at 5:29
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    Ocaml has optional named arguments for functions.
    – Basile Starynkevitch
    May 24 '15 at 7:00
  • Scala's infix mechanics are weird, but they let you do cool things. Haskell allows you to convert any 2 argument function into infix by calling it while it's surrounded in backticks. It also makes any purely symbolically-named function into infix automatically.
    – Carcigenicate
    May 24 '15 at 12:44
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    @Carcigenicate: The question is not about infix operators, it is about infix arguments, i.e. arguments which are interspersed in between the parts of the method name, e.g. for a method named foo:bar: it would be called foo: 1 bar: 2 instead of foo:bar:(1, 2).
    – Jörg W Mittag
    May 24 '15 at 13:13
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Since Objective-C inherited its core object-oriented features (minus categories and protocols), including the syntax, from Smalltalk, there's obviously at least Smalltalk that has the same syntax. Plus, all of the Smalltalk descendants such as Self, Newspeak and Fancy.

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  • Interesting. I didn't know Smalltalk was it's roots.
    – Sam Washburn
    May 24 '15 at 8:04
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    Objective-C is basically C + Smalltalk + types. Java is Objective-C - C, or, IOW, Smalltalk + types. ECMAScript is Scheme + NewtonScript (which is based on Self) with a little bit of Act-1 (which is based on Self). Ruby is Smalltalk + Perl. Smalltalk heritage runs deep in modern OO.
    – Jörg W Mittag
    May 24 '15 at 9:08

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