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<a name="Messaging-with-the-GNU-Objective_002dC-Runtime"></a>
<h3 class="section">8.10 Messaging with the GNU Objective-C Runtime</h3>

<p>This section is specific for the GNU Objective-C runtime.  If you are
using a different runtime, you can skip it.
</p>
<p>The implementation of messaging in the GNU Objective-C runtime is
designed to be portable, and so is based on standard C.
</p>
<p>Sending a message in the GNU Objective-C runtime is composed of two
separate steps.  First, there is a call to the lookup function,
<code>objc_msg_lookup ()</code> (or, in the case of messages to super,
<code>objc_msg_lookup_super ()</code>).  This runtime function takes as
argument the receiver and the selector of the method to be called; it
returns the <code>IMP</code>, that is a pointer to the function implementing
the method.  The second step of method invocation consists of casting
this pointer function to the appropriate function pointer type, and
calling the function pointed to it with the right arguments.
</p>
<p>For example, when the compiler encounters a method invocation such as
<code>[object init]</code>, it compiles it into a call to
<code>objc_msg_lookup (object, @selector(init))</code> followed by a cast
of the returned value to the appropriate function pointer type, and
then it calls it.
</p>
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