On Apr 26, 2012, at 2:00 PM, Chris Tracewell wrote: > I usually use the sample in line 1 when declaring vars inside my methods. > > NSString *theString = [NSString string];
Here you are creating a pointer to an empty string. This consumes memory. > NSString *theString = nil; Here you are creating a null pointer. This does not consume memory. If the program sends a message to a null pointer, then the runtime will catch it and not send the message. > NSString *theString; Here you are declaring an uninitialized pointer. This does not consume memory, but attempting to message it prior to initialization will either cause a crash if it points to an unallocated memory address, or cause bizarre behavior if it points to an allocated memory address. > when do you use the style shown in line 3? Only when you will store something in that pointer at a later time in the function/method. Never read from uninitialized memory unless you **really** know what you're doing. > Thanks and pointers to docs are welcome. This is C programming language 101, so I'd recommend you read a good book on C programming, particularly one that deals with pointers. Nick Zitzmann <http://www.chronosnet.com/> _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to arch...@mail-archive.com
