1. Links
  2. .h vs .m
  3. this
  4. Null
  5. Import
  6. Properties
  7. Arrays
  8. Class methods
    1. Declaration
    2. Implementation
  9. Booleans
  10. Memory Management
  11. Hello World
  12. Dictionaries
  13. Code Blocks

Links

.h vs .m

Everything in .m files is private. Everything in .h files is public.

this

For a pointer to the instance of an object that the currently executing code points to, use keyword self.

Null

Use keyword nil in objectivec. nil is actually just 0, but indicates a special usage of 0.

Import

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

No problem importing entire library because import is smart and pre-compiles stuff so it's really efficient.

Properties

Think: "setter" and "getter".

Arrays

No types in Arrays. Arrays can hold any type and even mixed types of objects

Class methods

Instance methods start with minus -. Static (or Class) methods start with +;

Declaration

@property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *contents;

Can change the name of the getter

@property (nonatomic, getter=isFaceUp) BOOL *faceUp;

nonatomic keyword means that this property is not thread safe.

Implementation

Setter and Getter implementations are automatic. But it's possible to customize the implementation like so:

@synthesize contents = _contents;

- (NSString *)contents
{
    return _contents;
}

- (void)setContents:(NSString *)contents
{
    _contents = contents;
}

If you implement both setter and getter, you gotta add the @synthesize like this

@synthesize name = _name;

Booleans

C doesn't have notion of boolean. Objective C introduces a primitive type called BOOL. Values can be YES or NO.

Memory Management

No Garbage collection.

All variables are pointers to space in the heap.

Reference Counting. As soon as no one points to memory, it's cleaned up.

Automatic(!) reference counting. strong means keep object in the heap until I'm no longer pointing to it. weak means keep object around as long as someone else points to it.

Hello World

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
    @autoreleasepool {
        NSString *name = @"Dave";
        NSLog(@"Hello, %@", name);
    }
    return 0;
}

Dictionaries

NSDictionary *inventory = @{
    @"Mercedes-Benz SLK250" : [NSNumber numberWithInt:13],
    @"Mercedes-Benz E350" : [NSNumber numberWithInt:22],
    @"BMW M3 Coupe" : [NSNumber numberWithInt:19],
    @"BMW X6" : [NSNumber numberWithInt:16],
};
NSLog(@"There are %@ X6's in stock", inventory[@"BMW X6"]);
for (id key in inventory) {
    NSLog(@"There are %@ %@'s in stock", inventory[key], key);
}

Code Blocks

void (^myFirstBlock)(void) = ^{
  NSLog(@"Hi from inside a block");
};