I don't know Objective C very well (the last time I looked at it was in 1998, when it was probably at its low point, between Next and Apple), but with Java, Hecl definitely provides a more compact API to deal with many of the system API's.

In other words, the compactness translates to dealing with system APIs in many cases too.

BTW, dove sei? Io vivo a Padova. Non sarebbe male fare un HN Italy qualche volta...