Objective-C Cheat Sheet

From: https://github.com/iwasrobbed/Objective-C-CheatSheet
This is not meant to be a beginner's guide or a detailed discussion about Objective-C; it is meant to be a quick reference to
common, high level topics. ( Read my Swift cheatsheet as well (Swift will replace Objective-C for iOS apps). )
//To download a PDF version of this, use GitPrint.com //didn't work -MA
Note: this was written over a stretch of 3 days, so it could probably use some editing and clarifications where necessary. Please
feel free to edit this document to update or improve upon it, making sure to keep with the general formatting of the document.
The list of contributors can be found here.

For advanced Objective-C topics, these two sites are updated weekly:

http://www.objc.io
http://nshipster.com
If something isn't mentioned here, it's probably covered in detail in one of these:

Swift, Apple's new language to replace Objective-C

NSHipster's "Fake" book aka concise usage examples of common Objective-C tasks
The Objective-C Programming Language
Coding Guidelines for Cocoa
iOS App Programming Guide
Cocoa Encyclopedia

Table of Contents

Commenting
Data Types
Constants
Operators
Declaring Classes
Preprocessor Directives
Compiler Directives
Literals
Methods
Properties and Variables
Naming Conventions
Blocks
Control Statements
Enumeration
Extending Classes
Error Handling
Passing Information
User Defaults
Common Patterns

Commenting
Comments should be used to organize code and to provide extra information for future refactoring or for
other developers who might be reading your code. Comments are ignored by the compiler so they do not
increase the compiled program size.
Two ways of commenting:
// This is an inline comment
/* This is a block comment
and it can span multiple lines. */
// You can also use it to comment out code
/*
- (SomeOtherClass *)doWork
{
// Implement this
}
*/

Using pragma to organize your code:

#pragma mark - Use pragma mark to logically organize your code
// Declare some methods or variables here
#pragma mark - They also show up nicely in the properties/methods list in Xcode
// Declare some more methods or variables here

Data Types
Size
Permissible sizes of data types are determined by how many bytes of memory are allocated for that
specific type and whether it's a 32-bit or 64-bit environment. In a 32-bit environment, long is given 4
bytes, which equates to a total range of 2^(4*8) (with 8 bits in a byte) or 4294967295. In a 64-bit
environment, long is given 8 bytes, which equates to 2^(8*8) or 1.84467440737096e19.
For a complete guide to 64-bit changes, please see the transition document.
C Primitives
Note: Objective-C inherits all of the C language primitive types and then adds a few extras.
Void
void is C's empty data type. It is most commonly used to specify the return type for functions that don't
return anything.
Integers
Integers can be signed or unsigned. When signed, they can be either positive or negative and when
unsigned, they can only be positive. Example: When declaring an unsigned int, the range of
2

allowable integer values for a 32-bit compiler will shift from -2147483648 to +2147483647 to instead be
0 to +4294967295.
Integer types with their accompanying byte sizes:
// Char (1 byte for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
unsigned char anUnsignedChar = 255;
NSLog(@"char size: %zu", sizeof(char));
// Short (2 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
short aShort = -32768;
unsigned short anUnsignedShort = 65535;
NSLog(@"short size: %zu", sizeof(short));
// Integer (4 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
int anInt = -2147483648;
unsigned int anUnsignedInt = 4294967295;
NSLog(@"int size: %zu", sizeof(int));
// Long (4 bytes for 32-bit, 8 bytes for 64-bit)
long aLong = -9223372036854775808; // 32-bit
unsigned long anUnsignedLong = 18446744073709551615; // 32-bit
NSLog(@"long size: %zu", sizeof(long));
// Long Long (8 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
long long aLongLong = -9223372036854775808;
unsigned long long anUnsignedLongLong = 18446744073709551615;
NSLog(@"long long size: %zu", sizeof(long long));

Fixed width integer types with their accompanying byte sizes as the variable names:
// Exact integer types
int8_t aOneByteInt = 127;
uint8_t aOneByteUnsignedInt = 255;
int16_t aTwoByteInt = 32767;
uint16_t aTwoByteUnsignedInt = 65535;
int32_t aFourByteInt = 2147483647;
uint32_t aFourByteUnsignedInt = 4294967295;
int64_t anEightByteInt = 9223372036854775807;
uint64_t anEightByteUnsignedInt = 18446744073709551615;
// Minimum integer types
int_least8_t aTinyInt = 127;
uint_least8_t aTinyUnsignedInt = 255;
int_least16_t aMediumInt = 32767;
uint_least16_t aMediumUnsignedInt = 65535;
int_least32_t aNormalInt = 2147483647;
uint_least32_t aNormalUnsignedInt = 4294967295;
int_least64_t aBigInt = 9223372036854775807;
uint_least64_t aBigUnsignedInt = 18446744073709551615;
// The largest supported integer type
intmax_t theBiggestInt = 9223372036854775807;
uintmax_t theBiggestUnsignedInt = 18446744073709551615;

Floating Point
Floats cannot be signed or unsigned.
// Single precision floating-point (4 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
float aFloat = 72.0345f;
NSLog(@"float size: %zu", sizeof(float));

// Double precision floating-point (8 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)

double aDouble = -72.0345f;
NSLog(@"double size: %zu", sizeof(double));
// Extended precision floating-point (16 bytes for both 32-bit and 64-bit)
long double aLongDouble = 72.0345e7L;
NSLog(@"long double size: %zu", sizeof(long double));

Objective-C Primitives
id : Known as the anonymous or dynamic object type, it can store a reference to any type of object with
no need to specify a pointer symbol.
id delegate = self.delegate;

Class : Used to denote an object's class and can be used for introspection of objects.
Class aClass = [UIView class];

Method : Used to denote a method and can be used for swizzling methods.
Method aMethod = class_getInstanceMethod(aClass, aSelector);

SEL : Used to specify a selector which is compiler-assigned code that identifies a method name.
SEL someSelector = @selector(someMethodName);

IMP : Used to point to the memory address of the start of a method. You will probably never need to use
this.
IMP theImplementation = [self methodForSelector:someSelector];

BOOL : Used to specify a boolean type where 0 is considered NO (false) and any non-zero value is
considered YES (true). Any nil object is also considered to be NO so there is no need to perform an
equality check with nil (e.g. just write if (someObject) not if (someObject != nil)).
// Boolean
BOOL isBool = YES; // Or NO

nil : Used to specify a null object pointer. When classes are first initialized, all properties of the class are
set to 0 which means they point to nil.
Objective-C also has a number of other types such as NSInteger, NSUInteger, CGRect, CGFloat,
CGSize, CGPoint, etc.
Enum & Bitmask Types
Enumeration types can be defined a number of different ways:
// Specifying a typed enum with a name (recommended way)
typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, UITableViewCellStyle) {
UITableViewCellStyleDefault,
UITableViewCellStyleValue1,
UITableViewCellStyleValue2,
UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle
};
// Specify a bitmask with a name (recommended way)
4

typedef NS_OPTIONS(NSUInteger, RPBitMask) {

RPOptionNone
= 0,
RPOptionRight
= 1 << 0,
RPOptionBottom
= 1 << 1,
RPOptionLeft
= 1 << 2,
RPOptionTop
= 1 << 3
};
// Other methods:
// Untyped
enum {
UITableViewCellStyleDefault,
UITableViewCellStyleValue1,
UITableViewCellStyleValue2,
UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle
};
// Untyped with a name
typedef enum {
UITableViewCellStyleDefault,
UITableViewCellStyleValue1,
UITableViewCellStyleValue2,
UITableViewCellStyleSubtitle
} UITableViewCellStyle;

Working with Bitmasks

// Set bits (only valid if it makes sense that your status may have many of the
bitmask values)
RPBitMask status = RPOptionNone;
status |= RPOptionBottom;
status != RPOptionTop;
// Toggle bit
status ^= RPOptionTop;
// Set single bit to zero
status &= ! RPOptionBottom;
// Check if it matches a certain bit
if (status & RPOptionTop) {
[self doSometing];
}

Casting to Data Types

Sometimes it is necessary to cast an id or different type into a specific class or data type. Examples of this
would be casting from a float to an int or from a UITableViewCell to a subclass such as
RPTableViewCell.
Casting non-object data types:
// Format: nonObjectType variableName = (nonObjectType)variableNameToCastFrom;
int anInt = (int)anAnonymouslyTypedNonObjectOrDifferentDataType;

Casting object data types:

// Format: ClassNameOrObjectType *variableName = (ClassNameOrObjectType
*)variableNameToCastFrom;
UIViewController *aViewController = (UIViewController
*)anAnonymouslyTypedObjectOrDifferentDataType;
5

Constants
Using const is usually the better approach since const points to the same memory address for any
references to that item in code. #define defines a macro which replaces all references with the actual
constant value contents before compilation starts, instead of being a memory pointer to that constant
value.
Constants can be defined as:
// Format: type const constantName = value;
NSString *const kRPShortDateFormat = @"MM/dd/yyyy";
// Format: #define constantName value
#define kRPShortDateFormat @"MM/dd/yyyy"

To make the constant available to external classes, you must also add it to the header .h file:
extern NSString *const kRPShortDateFormat;

If you know that a constant will only be available within it's containing implementation .m file, specify it
as:
static NSString *const kRPShortDateFormat = @"MM/dd/yyyy";

A static variable declared within a method retains its value between invocations. This can be useful when
declaring a singleton or creating custom setters/getters for a property.

Operators
Arithmetic Operators
Operator
+
*
/
%

Purpose
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Modulo

Relational and Equality Operators

Operator
==
!=
>
<
>=
<=

Purpose
Equal to
Not equal to
Greater than
Less than
Greater than or equal to
Less than or equal to

Logical Operators
Operator
!
&&
||

Purpose
NOT
Logical AND
Logical OR

Compound Assignment Operators

Operator
+=
-=
*=
/=
%=
&=
|=
^=
<<=
>>=

Purpose
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Modulo
Bitwise AND
Bitwise Inclusive OR
Exclusive OR
Shift Left
Shift Right

Increment and Decrement Operators

Operator
++
-*=
/=
%=
&=
|=
^=
<<=
>>=

Purpose
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Modulo
Bitwise AND
Bitwise Inclusive OR
Exclusive OR
Shift Left
Shift Right

Bitwise Operators
Operator
&
|
^
~
<<
>>

Purpose
Bitwise AND
Bitwise Inclusive OR
Exclusive OR
Unary complement (bit inversion)
Shift Left
Shift Right

Other operators
Operator
()
?:
&

Purpose
Cast
Conditional
Memory Address
7

Operator
*

Purpose
Pointer

Declaring Classes
Classes are declared using two files: a header (.h) file and an implementation (.m) file.
The header file should contain (in this order):

Any needed #import statements or forward @class declarations

Any protocol declarations
An @interface declaration specifying which class you're inheriting from
All publicly accessible variables, properties and methods

The implementation file should contain (in this order):

Any needed #import statements

An anonymous category, or class extension, for any private variables or properties
An @implementation declaration specifying the class
All public and private methods

Example:
MyClass.h
#import "SomeClass.h"
// Used instead of #import to forward declare a class in property return types, etc.
@class SomeOtherClass;
// Place all global constants at the top
extern NSString *const kRPErrorDomain;
// Format: YourClassName : ClassThatYouAreInheritingFrom
@interface MyClass : SomeClass
// Public properties first
@property (readonly, nonatomic, strong) SomeClass *someProperty;
// Then class methods
+ (id)someClassMethod;
// Then instance methods
- (SomeOtherClass *)doWork;
@end

MyClass.m
#import "MyClass.h"
#import "SomeOtherClass.h"
// Declare any constants at the top
NSString *const kRPErrorDomain = @"com.myIncredibleApp.errors";
static NSString *const kRPShortDateFormat = @"MM/dd/yyyy";
// Class extensions for private variables / properties
8

@interface MyClass ()
{
int somePrivateInt;
}
// Re-declare as a private read-write version of the public read-only property
@property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) SomeClass *someProperty;
@end
@implementation MyClass
// Use #pragma mark - statements to logically organize your code
#pragma mark - Class Methods
+ (id)someClassMethod
{
return [[MyClass alloc] init];
}
#pragma mark - Init & Dealloc methods
- (id)init
{
if (self = [super init]) {
// Initialize any properties or setup code here
}
return self;
}
// Dealloc method should always follow init method
- (void)dealloc
{
// Remove any observers or free any necessary cache, etc.
[super dealloc];
}
#pragma mark - Instance Methods
- (SomeOtherClass *)doWork
{
// Implement this
}
@end

Instantiation
When you want to create a new instance of a class, you use the syntax:
MyClass *myClass = [[MyClass alloc] init];

The alloc class method returns a pointer to a newly allocated block of memory large enough to store an
instance of the class. The allocated memory contains zeros except for one instance variable, isa, that all
Objective-C objects are required to have. The isa variable is automatically initialized to point to the class
object that allocated the memory and enables the instance to receive messages such as init that are used
to complete initialization.

Preprocessor Directives
This section needs a lot of love, so please feel free to improve upon it!
Directive
#define
#elif
#else
#endif
#error
#if
#ifdef
#ifndef
#import
#include
#pragma
#undef
#warning

Purpose
Used to define constants or macros that are replaced by the compiler at runtime
An else if conditional statement
An else conditional statement
An end if conditional statement
Used to flag an error line in code
An if conditional statement
An if defined conditional statement
An if not defined conditional statement
Imports a header file. This directive is identical to #include, except that it
won't include the same file more than once
Includes a header file
Used for commenting code or inhibiting compiler warnings
Used to undefine and redefine macros
Used to flag a warning line in code

Special operator
The special operator defined is used in #if and #elif expressions to test whether a certain name is
defined as a macro.
defined is useful when you wish to test more than one macro for existence at once. For example, #if
defined(__IPHONE_8_0) || defined(__MAC_10_9) would succeed if either of the names
__IPHONE_8_0 or __MAC_10_9 is defined as a macro.

Compiler Directives
Also see the literals section.
Classes and Protocols
Directive
@class
@interface
@implementation
@protocol
@required
@optional
@end

Purpose
Declares the names of classes defined elsewhere
Begins the declaration of a class or category interface
Begins the definition of a class or category
Begins the declaration of a formal protocol
Declares the methods following the directive as required (default)
Declares the methods following the directive as optional. Classes implementing
this protocol can decide whether to implement an optional method or not and
should first check if the method is implemented before sending it a message.
Ends the declaration/definition of a class, category, or protocol

10

Properties
Directive
@property
@synthesize
@dynamic

Purpose
Declares a property with a backing instance variable
Synthesizes a property and allows the compiler to generate setters/getters for the
backing instance variable
Tells the compiler that the setter/getter methods are not implemented by the class
itself but somewhere else, like the superclass

Errors
Directive
@throw
@try
@catch
@finally

Purpose
Throws an exception
Specifies a block of code to attempt
Specifies what to do if an exception was thrown in the @try block
Specifies code that runs whether an exception occurred or not

Visibility of Instance Variables

Directive

Purpose
Limits the scope of instance variables specified below it to the class that declares
@private
it
Limits the scope of instance variables specified below it to declaring and
@protected
inheriting classes
@public
Removes restrictions on the scope of instance variables specified below it
Declares the instance variables following the directive as public inside the
@package
framework that defined the class, but private outside the framework (64-bit only)
The default is @protected, so there is no need to explicitly specify this.
Others
Directive
@selector(method)
@protocol(name)
@synchronized
@autoreleasepool
@encode(spec)
@compatibility_alias
@defs(classname)
@import

Purpose
Returns the compiled selector that identifies a method
Returns the given protocol (an instance of the Protocol class)
Encapsulates code in a mutex lock to ensure that the block of code and the
locked object can only be accessed by one thread at a time
Replaces (and is 6 times faster than) the NSAutoreleasePool class
Yields a character string that encodes the type structure of spec
Allows you to define an alias name for an existing class.
Yields the internal data structure of classname instances
Imports a module and autolinks its framework (currently for Apple
frameworks only)

Literals
Literals are compiler directives which provide a shorthand notation for creating common objects.
Syntax
@"string"
@28, @3.14, @YES

What it does
Returns an NSString object
Returns an NSNumber object initialized with an appropriate class
11

Syntax
@[]
@{}
@()

What it does
constructor, depending on the type
Returns an NSArray object
Returns an NSDictionary object
Dynamically evaluates the boxed expression and returns the appropriate
object literal based on its value

NSArray Access Syntax

NSArray *example = @[ @"hi", @"there", @23, @YES ];
NSLog(@"item at index 0: %@", example[0]);

NSDictionary Access Syntax

NSDictionary *example = @{ @"hi" : @"there", @"iOS" : @"people" };
NSLog(@"hi %@", example[@"hi"]);

Caveats
Similar to NSString literals, collection objects made via literal arrays and dictionaries are immutable.
Instead, you will have to make a mutable copy after making the immutable dictionary or array.
Additionally, you cannot have static initializers like you can with NSString.

Methods
Declaration Syntax
For methods without a return type, use void:
// Does not return anything or take any arguments
- (void)someMethod;

+ precedes declarations of class methods:

// Call on a class (e.g. [MyClass someClassMethod]);
+ (void)someClassMethod;

- precedes declarations of class instance methods:

// Called on an instance of a class (e.g. [[NSString alloc] init]);
- (void)someClassInstanceMethod;

Method arguments are declared after colons : and the method signature should describe the argument
type:
// Does something with an NSObject argument
- (void)doWorkWithObject:(NSObject *)object;

Argument and return types are declared using type casting syntax:
// Returns an NSString object for the given NSObject arguments
- (NSString *)stringFromObject:(NSObject *)object andSomeOtherObject:(NSObject
*)otherObject;

12

Calling Methods
Methods are called using bracket syntax: [self someMethod]; or [self
sometMethodWithObject:object];
self is a reference to the method's containing class. The self variable is present in all Objective-C
methods and it is one of two hidden arguments passed to code that implements a method, the other being
_cmd, which identifies the received message.
At times, it is necessary to call a method in the superclass using [super someMethod];.
Under the hood, methods are implemented via message sending and they are turned into a variation of one
of these two C functions:
id objc_msgSend(id self, SEL op, ...);
id objc_msgSendSuper(struct objc_super *super, SEL op, ...);

Testing Selectors
If you'd like to test if a class responds to a certain selector before you send it (and possibly crash), you can
do so with:
if ([someClassOrInstance respondsToSelector:@selector(someMethodName)])
{
// Call the selector or do something here
}

This pattern is common when you have a delegate implemented and need to test for methods declared as
@optional before calling them on the delegate object.

Properties and Variables

Declaring a property allows you to maintain a reference to an object within a class or to pass objects
between classes.
Public properties are declared in the header (.h) file:
@interface MyClass : NSObject
@property (readonly, nonatomic, strong) NSString *fullName;
@end

Private properties are declared in an anonymous category, or class extension, in the implementation (.m)
file:
#import "MyClass.h"
// Class extension for private variables / properties
@interface MyClass ()
{
// Instance variable
int somePrivateInteger;
}
// Private properties
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *firstName;
13

@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *lastName;

@property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) NSString *fullName;
@end
@implementation MyClass
// Class implementation goes here
@end

The LLVM compiler automatically synthesizes all properties so there is no longer a need to explicitly
write @synthesize statements for properties anymore. When a property is synthesized, accessors are
created which allow you to set and get the value of a property.
Even though you may not see them since they are created at build time, a getter/setter pair can be shown
as:
- (BOOL)finished
{
return _finished;
}
- (void)setFinished:(BOOL)aValue
{
_finished = aValue;
}

You can overrride the getter and setter of a property to create customized behavior, or even use this pattern
to create transient properties such as:
- (NSString *)fullName
{
return [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ %@", self.firstName, self.lastName];
}

Properties are typically backed by an instance variable with a leading underscore, so creating a property
called firstName would have a backing instance variable with the name _firstName. You should
only access that private instance variable if you override the getter/setter or if you need to setup the ivar in
the class init method.
Property Attributes
When a property is specified, it is given the syntax:
@property SomeClass *someProperty;
// Or
@property (xxx) SomeClass *someProperty;

where xxx can be a combination of:

Type
copy
assign

What it does
Creates an immutable copy of the object upon assignment and is typically used for
creating an immutable version of a mutable object. Use this if you need the value of
the object as it is at this moment, and you don't want that value to reflect any future
changes made by other owners of the object.
Generates a setter which assigns the value directly to the instance variable, rather
14

Type

What it does
than copying or retaining it. This is typically used for creating properties for
primitive types (float, int, BOOL, etc).
Variables that are weak can still point to objects but they do not become owners (or
increase the retain count by 1). If the object's retain count drops to 0, the object will
be deallocated from memory and the weak pointer will be set to nil. It's best
weak
practice to create all delegates and IBOutlet's as weak references since you do
not own them.
An unsafe reference is similar to a weak reference in that it doesn't keep its related
object alive, but it wont be set to nil if the object is deallocated. This can lead to
unsafe_unretained
crashes due to accessing that deallocated object and therefore you should use weak
unless the OS or class does not support it.
This is the default and is required when the attribute is a pointer to an object. The
strong
automatically generated setter will retain (i.e. increment the retain count of) the
object and keep the object alive until released.
This only generates a getter method so it won't allow the property to be changed via
readonly
the setter method.
This is the default and generates both a setter and a getter for the property. Often
times, a readonly property will be publicly defined and then a readwrite for
readwrite
the same property name will be privately redefined to allow mutation of the
property value within that class only.
This is the default and means that any access operation is guaranteed to be
atomic
uninterrupted by another thread and is typically slower in performance to use.
nonatomic
This is used to provide quicker (but thus interruptable) access operations.
Used to specify a different name for the property's getter method. This is typically
getter=method
done for boolean properties (e.g. getter=isFinished)
Used to specify a different name for the property's setter method. (e.g.
setter=method
setter=setProjectAsFinished)
Accessing Properties
Properties can be accessed using either bracket syntax or dot notation, with dot notation being cleaner to
read.
[self myProperty];
// Or
self.myProperty

Local Variables
Local variables exist only within the scope of a method.
- (void)doWork
{
NSString *localStringVariable = @"Some local string variable.";
[self doSomethingWithString:localStringVariable];
}

15

Naming Conventions
The general rule of thumb: Clarity and brevity are both important, but clarity should never be sacrificed
for brevity.
Methods and Properties
These both use camelCase where the first letter of the first word is lowercase and the first letter of each
additional word is capitalized.
Class names and Protocols
These both use CapitalCase where the first letter of every word is capitalized.
Methods
These should use verbs if they perform some action (e.g. performInBackground). You should be
able to infer what is happening, what arguments a method takes, or what is being returned just by reading
a method signature.
Example:
// Correct
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:
(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Code
}
// Incorrect (not expressive enough)
- (UITableViewCell *)table:(UITableView *)tableView cell:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Code
}

Properties and Local Variables

When using properties, instance variables are internally created with a preceeding underscore, so
myVariableName is created as _myVariableName. However, Objective-C now synthesizes these
properties for you so you should never have to access that underscored instance variable directly except in
a custom setter.
Instead, instance variables should always be accessed and mutated using self.
Local variables should not contain underscores.
Constants
These should start with k and XXX where XXX is a prefix, possibly your initials, to avoid naming conflicts.
You should not be afraid to be expressive with your constant naming, especially if it's a global constant.
Using kRPNavigationFadeOutAnimationDuration is much better than fadeOutTiming.

Blocks
Blocks are essentially anonymous functions that are used to pass arbitrary code between methods or to
16

execute code as a callback within a method. Since blocks are implemented as closures, the surrounding
state is also captured (which can sometimes lead to retain cycles).
Syntax
// As a local variable
returnType (^blockName)(parameterTypes) = ^returnType(parameters) {
// Block code here
};
// As a property
@property (nonatomic, copy) returnType (^blockName)(parameterTypes);
// As a method parameter
- (void)someMethodThatTakesABlock:(returnType (^)(parameterTypes))blockName {
// Block code here
};
// As an argument to a method call
[someObject someMethodThatTakesABlock: ^returnType (parameters) {
// Block code here
}];
// As a typedef
typedef returnType (^TypeName)(parameterTypes);
TypeName blockName = ^(parameters) {
// Block code here
};

Mutating block variables

Since variables within a block are just snapshots of what they were outside of the block scope, you must
preceed any variables that you want to mutate within the block with __block, such as:
__block int someIncrementer = 0;
[someObject someMethodThatTakesABlock:^{
someIncrementer++;
}];

Retain cycles
Since blocks strongly capture all variables within the scope of the block, you have to be careful how you
setup your blocks code. Here are two examples of retain cycles:
[someObject someMethodThatTakesABlock:^{
[someObject performSomeAction]; // Will raise a warning
}];
[self someMethodThatTakesABlock:^{
[self performSomeAction];
}];

// Will raise a warning

In both of these cases, the object which performs the block owns the block, which also owns the object.
This creates a loop, or a retain cycle, which means the memory is eventually leaked.
To get around this warning you can either refactor the code to be:
[self someMethodThatTakesABlock:^{
[object performSomeAction];
// No retain cycle here
}];

17

Or you can use a __weak object:

__weak typeof(self) weakSelf = self;
[self someMethodThatTakesABlock:^{
[weakSelf performSomeAction]; // No retain cycle here
}];

Control Statements
Objective-C uses all of the same control statements that other languages have:
If-Else If-Else
if (someTestCondition) {
// Code to execute if the condition is true
} else if (someOtherTestCondition) {
// Code to execute if the other test condition is true
} else {
// Code to execute if the prior conditions are false
}

Ternary Operators
The shorthand notation for an if-else statement is a ternary operator of the form:
someTestCondition ? doIfTrue : doIfFalse;
Example:
- (NSString *)stringForTrueOrFalse:(BOOL)trueOrFalse
{
return trueOrFalse ? @"True" : @"False";
}

There is also another lesser known form: A ?: B; which basically returns A if A is YES or non-nil,
otherwise it returns B.
For Loops
for (int i = 0; i < totalCount; i++) {
// Code to execute while i < totalCount
}

Fast Enumeration
for (Person *person in arrayOfPeople) {
// Code to execute each time
}

where arrayOfPeople can be any object that conforms to the NSFastEnumeration protocol.
NSArray and NSSet enumerate over their objects, NSDictionary enumerates over keys, and
NSManagedObjectModel enumerates over entities.
While Loop
while (someTextCondition) {
// Code to execute while the condition is true
18

Do While Loop
do {

// Code to execute while the condition is true

} while (someTestCondition);

Switch
Switch statements are often used in place of if statements if there is a need to test if a certain variable
matches the value of another constant or variable. For example, you may want to test if an error code
integer you received matches an existing constant value or if it's a new error code.
switch (errorStatusCode)
{
case kRPServerErrorCode:
// Code to execute if it matches
break;
case kRPNetworkErrorCode:
case kRPWifiErrorCode:
case kRPSystemErrorCode:
// Code to execute if it matches
break;
default:
// Code to execute if nothing else matched
break;
}

Note: switch statements are fallthrough: when control reaches the matched case (or default block if
nothing matches), it continues execution of the next statements in the source code (including default)
until the break statement or the end of switch is reached. This also allows multiple values to match the
same point without any special syntax; they are just listed with empty bodies.
Exiting Loops
return : Stops execution and returns to the calling function. It can also be used to return a value
from a method.
break : Used to stop execution of a loop.
Newer enumeration methods now have special BOOL variables (e.g. BOOL *stop) that are used to stop
loop execution. Setting that variable to YES within the loop is similar to calling break.

Enumeration
Fast enumeration was already mentioned in the control statements section, but many collection classes
also have their own block-based methods for enumerating over a collection.
Block-based methods perform almost as well as using fast enumeration, but they just provide extra options
for enumerating over collections. An example of block-based enumeration over an NSArray would be:
NSArray *people = @[ @"Bob", @"Joe", @"Penelope", @"Jane" ];
19

[people enumerateObjectsUsingBlock:^(NSString *nameOfPerson, NSUInteger idx, BOOL

*stop) {
NSLog(@"Person's name is: %@", nameOfPerson);
}];

Extending Classes
There are a few different ways to extend a class in Objective-C, with some approaches being much easier
than others.
Approach

Difficulty

Inheritance

Easy

Category

Easy

Delegation

Easy

Subclass

Can be difficult

Swizzle

Can be difficult

Purpose
Used if all you want to do is inherit behavior from another
class, such as NSObject
Used if all you need to do is add additional methods to that
class. If you also need to add instance variables to an existing
class using a category, you can fake this by using associative
references.
Used to allow one class to react to changes in or influence
behavior of another class while minimizing coupling.
Used if you need to add methods and properties to an existing
class or if you want to inherit behavior from an existing class.
Some classes are not designed to be subclassed.
Swizzling allows you to replace a method in an existing class
with one of your own making. This approach can lead to a lot
of unexpected behavior, so it should be used very sparingly.

Inheritance
Inheritance essentially allows you to create concrete subclasses, which typically have specialized
behavior, while inheriting all methods and properties from a superclass which are specified as @public
or @protected within the superclass' header file.
Looking through any framework or open source project, you can see the use of inheritance to not only get
behavior for free, but to also consolidate code and allow it to be easily reused. Examples of this approach
can be seen with any of the mutable framework classes such as NSMutableString which is a subclass
of NSString.
In Objective-C, all objects have much of their behavior defined by the NSObject class through the act of
class inheritance. Without inheritance, you would have to implement common methods like object or class
equality checks on your own and you'd end up with a lot of duplicate code across classes.
// MyClass inherits all behavior from the NSObject class
@interface MyClass : NSObject
// Class implementation
@end

Inheritance inherently creates coupling between classes, so be sure to take this into consideration.

20

Categories
Categories are a very useful and easy way of extending classes, especially when you don't have access to
the original source code (such as for Cocoa Touch frameworks and classes). A category can be declared
for any class and any methods that you declare in a category will be available to all instances of the
original class, as well as any subclasses of the original class. At runtime, there's no difference between a
method added by a category and one that is implemented by the original class.
Categories are also useful to:
Declare informal protocols
Group related methods similar to having multiple classes
Break up a large class implementation into multiple categories, which helps with incremental
compilation
Easily configure a class differently for different applications
Implementation
Categories are named with the format: ClassYouAreExtending +
DescriptorForWhatYouAreAdding
As an example, let's say that we need to add a new method to the UIImage class (and all subclasses) that
allows us to easily resize or crop instances of that class. You'd then need to create a header/implementation
file pair named UIImage+ResizeCrop with the following implementation:
UIImage+ResizeCrop.h
@interface UIImage (ResizeCrop)
- (UIImage *)croppedImageWithSize:(CGSize)size;
- (UIImage *)resizedImageWithSize:(CGSize)size;
@end

UIImage+ResizeCrop.m
#import "UIImage+ResizeCrop.h"
@implementation UIImage (ResizeCrop)
- (UIImage *)croppedImageWithSize:(CGSize)size
{
// Implementation code here
}
- (UIImage *)resizedImageWithSize:(CGSize)size
{
// Implementation code here
}

You could then call these methods on any instances of UIImage or it's subclasses such as:
UIImage *croppedImage = [userPhoto croppedImageWithSize:photoSize];

Associative References
Unless you have access to the source code for a class at compile time, it is not possible to add instance
21

variables and properties to a class by using a category. Instead, you have to essentially fake this by using a
feature of the Objective-C runtime called associative references.
For example, let's say that we want to add a public property to the UIScrollView class to store a
reference to a UIView object, but we don't have access to UIScrollView's source code. We would
have to create a category on UIScrollView and then create a pair of getter/setter methods for this new
property to store a reference like this:
UIScrollView+UIViewAdditions.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@interface UIScrollView (UIViewAdditions)
@property (nonatomic, strong) UIView *myCustomView;
@end

UIScrollView+UIViewAdditions.m
#import "UIScrollView+UIViewAdditions.h"
#import <objc/runtime.h>
static char UIScrollViewMyCustomView;
@implementation UIScrollView (UIViewAdditions)
@dynamic myCustomView;
- (void)setMyCustomView:(UIView *)customView
{
[self willChangeValueForKey:@"myCustomView"];
objc_setAssociatedObject(self, &UIScrollViewMyCustomView, customView,
OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
[self didChangeValueForKey:@"myCustomView"];
}
- (UIView *)myCustomView {
return objc_getAssociatedObject(self, &UIScrollViewMyCustomView);
}
@end

Let's explain a bit about what's happening here:

We create a static key called UIScrollViewMyCustomView that we can use to get and set the
associated object. Declaring it as static ensures that it is unique since it always points to the
same memory address.
Next, we declare the property we are adding as @dynamic which tells the compiler that the
getter/setter is not implemented by the UIScrollView class itself.
Within the setter, we use willChangeValueForKey followed by
didChangeValueForKey to ensure that we notify any key-value observers of a change to this
property.
Within the setter, we use objc_setAssociatedObject to store a reference to the object that
we really care about, customView under the static key that we created. & is used to denote that it
is a pointer to a pointer to UIScrollViewMyCustomView
22

 Within the getter, we retrieve the object reference using objc_getAssociatedObject and a
pointer to the static key
We could then use the property just like we would any other property:
UIScrollView *scrollView = [[UIScrollView alloc] init];
scrollView.myCustomView = [[UIView alloc] init];
NSLog(@"Custom view is %@", scrollView.myCustomView);
// Custom view is <UIView: 0x8e4dfb0; frame = (0 0; 0 0); layer = <CALayer:
0x8e4e010>>

More info from the docs:

The [objc_setAssociatedObject] function takes four parameters: the source object, a key, the
value, and an association policy constant. The key is a void pointer.
The key for each association must be unique. A typical pattern is to use a static variable. The
policy specifies whether the associated object is assigned, retained, or copied, and whether the
association is be made atomically or non-atomically. This pattern is similar to that of the
attributes of a declared property
The possible property declaration attributes are:
OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_ASSIGN,
OBJC_ASSOCIATION_COPY_NONATOMIC, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN,
OBJC_ASSOCIATION_COPY
Class Extension Categories
In the section about declaring classes, it shows how the private instance variables and properties within a
class are actually added to the class by using an anonymous (unnamed) category, also known as a class
extension.
// Class extensions for private variables / properties
@interface MyClass ()
{
int somePrivateInt;
// Re-declare as a private read-write version of the public read-only property
@property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) SomeClass *someProperty;

}
@end

Class extensions are the only way that you can add variables and properties using a category, so you must
have access to the source code at compile time in order to use this method.
Core Data Categories
Categories are very useful when you are working with Core Data models and want to add additional
methods to an NSManagedObject subclass without worrying about Xcode writing over the model class
each time you migrate a model.
Model classes should be kept to a minimum, containing only the model properties and Core Data
generated accessor methods. All others, such as transient methods, should be implemented in a category
on the model class.

23

Naming Conflicts
Great advice from Apple's docs:
Because the methods declared in a category are added to an existing class, you need to be very
careful about method names.
If the name of a method declared in a category is the same as a method in the original class, or
a method in another category on the same class (or even a superclass), the behavior is
undefined as to which method implementation is used at runtime. This is less likely to be an
issue if youre using categories with your own classes, but can cause problems when using
categories to add methods to standard Cocoa or Cocoa Touch classes.
Delegation
Delegation is basically a way to allow one class to react to changes made in another class or to influence
the behavior of another class while minimizing coupling between the two.
The most commonly known example of the delegate pattern in iOS is with UITableViewDelegate
and UITableViewDataSource. When you tell the compiler that your class conforms to these
protocols, you are essentially agreeing to implement certain methods within your class that are required
for a UITableView to properly function.
Conforming to an Existing Protocol
To conform to an existing protocol, import the header file that contains the protocol declaration (not
necessary for framework classes). Then, insert the protocol name within < > symbols and separate
multiple protocols by a comma. Both options shown below will work just fine, but I prefer to keep them in
the header file since it feels cleaner to me.
Option 1: In your .h file:
#import "RPLocationManager.h"
@interface MyViewController : UIViewController <RPLocationManagerDelegate,
UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource>
@end

Option 2: In the .m file:

#import "MyViewController.h"
@interface MyViewController () <RPLocationManagerDelegate, UITableViewDelegate,
UITableViewDataSource>
{
// Class extension implementation
}
@end

Creating Your Own Protocol

To create your own protocol for other classes to conform to, follow this syntax:
RPLocationManager.h
#import <SomeFrameworksYouNeed.h>
24

// Declare your protocol and decide which methods are required/optional

// for the delegate class to implement
@protocol RPLocationManagerDelegate <NSObject>
- (void)didAcquireLocation:(CLLocation *)location;
- (void)didFailToAcquireLocationWithError:(NSError *)error;
@optional
- (void)didFindLocationName:(NSString *)locationName;
@end
@interface RPLocationManager : NSObject
// Create a weak, anonymous object to store a reference to the delegate class
@property (nonatomic, weak) id <RPLocationManagerDelegate>delegate;
// Implement any other methods here
@end

When we declare the @protocol named RPLocationManagerDelegate, all methods are

defaulted to being @required so it's not necessary to explicitly state this. However, if you want certain
methods to be @optional for conforming classes to implement, you must state this.
Additionally, it is necessary to weakly declare an anonymously typed property called delegate which
also references the RPLocationManagerDelegate protocol.
Sending Delegate Messages
In the example above, RPLocationManager.h declares some methods that the class which is acting
as the delegate must implement. Within RPLocationManager.m itself, you could implement these a
few different ways, but we'll just show two cases: a) required methods; b) optional methods.
Required Methods
- (void)updateLocation
{
// Perform some work
// When ready, notify the delegate method
[self.delegate didAcquireLocation:locationObject];
}

Optional Methods
- (void)reverseGeoCode
{
// Perform some work

// When ready, notify the delegate method

if ([self.delegate respondsToSelector:@selector(didFindLocationName:)]) {
[self.delegate didFindLocationName:locationName];
}

The only difference between @required and @optional methods is that you should always check if
the referenced delegate implemented an optional method before calling it on that class.

25

Implementing Delegate Methods

To implement a delegate method, just conform to the protocol like was discussed earlier, and then write it
as if it was a normal method:
MyViewController.m
- (void)didFindLocationName:(NSString *)locationName
{
NSLog(@"We found a location with the name %@", locationName);
}

Subclassing
Subclassing is essentially the same as inheritance, but you would typically create the subclass to either
Override a method or property implementation in the superclass; or
Create specialized behavior for the subclass (e.g. Toyota is a subclass of Car... it still has tires,
an engine, etc, but it has additional custom behavior that uniquely makes it a Toyota)
Many design patterns, such as categories and delegation, exist so that you don't have to subclass another
class. For example, the UITableViewDelegate protocol was created to allow you to provide the
implementation of methods like tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: in your own class
instead of having to subclass UITableView to override that method.
Other times, classes like NSManagedObject are designed to be easily subclassed. The general rule of
thumb is to subclass another class only if you can satisfy the Liskov substitution principle:
If S is a subtype of T, then objects of type T in a program may be replaced with objects of type
S without altering any of the desirable properties of that program.
Example
Let's assume that we want to model cars. All cars have similar behavior and characteristics, so let's put
some of that in a superclass called Car.
Car.h
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
@interface Car : NSObject
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *make;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *model;
@property (nonatomic, assign) NSInteger year;
- (void)startEngine;
- (void)pressGasPedal;
- (void)pressBrakePedal;
@end

Car.m
#import "Car.h"
@implementation Car

26

- (void)startEngine
{
NSLog(@"Starting the engine.");
}
- (void)pressGasPedal
{
NSLog(@"Accelerating...");
}
- (void)pressBrakePedal
{
NSLog(@"Decelerating...");
}
@end

Now when we want to spawn off new car makes and models with unique characteristics, we use the Car
superclass as a starting point and then add custom behavior in the subclass.
Toyota.h
#import "Car.h"
@interface Toyota : Car
- (void)preventAccident;
@end

Toyota.m
#import "Toyota.h"
@implementation Toyota
- (void)startEngine
{
// Perform custom start sequence, different from the superclass
NSLog(@"Starting the engine.");
}
- (void)preventAccident
{
[self pressBrakePedal];
[self deployAirbags];

- (void)deployAirbags
{
NSLog(@"Deploying the airbags.");
}
@end

Even though pressBrakePedal is declared in the Car class, that method is still accessible in the
Toyota class due to inheritance.

27

Designated Initializers
Often times, classes implement designated class initializers to allow for easy instantiation. If you override
the main designated initializer for a class or provide a new designated initializer, it's important to ensure
that you also override all other designated initializers so they use your new implementation instead of the
superclass version. If you forget to do so and someone calls one of the secondary designated initializers on
your subclass, they will get behavior from the superclass instead.
// The new designated initializer for this class
- (instancetype)initWithFullName:(NSString *)fullName
{
if (self = [super init]) {
_fullName = fullName;
[self commonSetup];
}
return self;
}
// Provide a sensible default for other initializers
- (instancetype)init
{
return [self initWithFullName:@"Default User"];
}

If you'd rather someone not use a default initializer for some rare case, you should throw an exception and
provide them with an alternative solution:
- (instancetype)init {
[NSException raise:NSInvalidArgumentException
format:@"%s Using the %@ initializer directly is not supported. Use
%@ instead.", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, NSStringFromSelector(@selector(init)),
NSStringFromSelector(@selector(initWithFrame:))];
return nil;
}

Overriding Methods
If you're subclassing another class to override a method within that class, you must be a little cautious. If
you want to maintain the same behavior as the superclass, but just modify it slightly, you can call super
within the override like this:
- (void)myMethod
{
[super myMethod];
}

// Provide your additional custom behavior here

If you don't want any of the superclass's behavior for the overridden method, simply leave out that call to
super, but be careful that there aren't any memory or object lifecycle consequences for doing so.
Additionally, if the superclass has primitive methods upon which other derived methods are implemented,
you must ensure that you override all necessary primitive methods necessary for the derived methods to
work properly.
Caveats
Certain classes don't lend themselves well to being easily subclassed and therefore subclassing is
28

discouraged in those cases. An example of this is when trying to subclass a class cluster such as
NSString or NSNumber. Class clusters have quite a few private classes within them so it's difficult to
ensure that you have overridden all of the primitive methods and designated initializers within the class
cluster properly.
Swizzling
As is often the case, clarity is better than cleverness. As a general rule, it's typically better to work around
a bug in a method implementation than it is to replace the method by using method swizzling. The reason
being that other people using your code might not realize that you replaced the method implementation
and then they are stuck wondering why a method isn't responding with the default behavior.
For this reason, we don't discuss swizzling here but you are welcome to read up on it here.

Error Handling
Errors are typically handled three different ways: assertions, exceptions, and recoverable errors. In the
case of assertions and exceptions, they should only be used in rare cases since crashing your app is
obviously not a great user experience.
Assertions
Assertions are used when you want to ensure that a value is what it is supposed to be. If it's not the correct
value, you force exit the app.
NSAssert(someCondition, @"The condition was false, so we are exiting the app.");

Important: Do not call functions with side effects in the condition parameter of this macro.
The condition parameter is not evaluated when assertions are disabled, so if you call functions
with side effects, those functions may never get called when you build the project in a nondebug configuration.
Exceptions
Exceptions are only used for programming or unexpected runtime errors. Examples: attempting to access
the 6th element of an array with 5 elements (out-of-bounds access), attempting to mutate immutable
objects, or sending an invalid message to an object. You usually take care of these sorts of errors with
exceptions when an application is being created rather than at runtime.
An example of this might be if you have a library which requires an API key to use.
// Check for an empty API key
- (void)checkForAPIKey
{
if (!self.apiKey || !self.apiKey.length) {
[NSException raise:@"Forecastr" format:@"Your Forecast.io API key must be
populated before you can access the API.", nil];
}
}

Try-Catch
If you're worried that a block of code is going to throw an exception, you can wrap it in a try-catch block
29

but keep in mind that this has slight performance implications

@try {
// The code to try here
}
@catch (NSException *exception) {
// Handle the caught exception
}
@finally {
// Execute code here that would run after both the @try and @catch blocks
}

Recoverable Errors
Many times, methods will return an NSError object in a failure block or as a pointer to a pointer (in the
case of NSFileManager). These are typically returned for recoverable errors and offer a much more
pleasant user experience since they can clue the user into what just went wrong.
[forecastr getForecastForLocation:location success:^(id JSON) {
NSLog(@"JSON response was: %@", JSON);
} failure:^(NSError *error, id response) {
NSLog(@"Error while retrieving forecast: %@", error.localizedDescription);
}];

Creating Your Own Errors

It's also possible to create your own NSError objects to return in methods.
// Error domain & enums
NSString *const kFCErrorDomain = @"com.forecastr.errors";
typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, ForecastErrorType) {
kFCCachedItemNotFound,
kFCCacheNotEnabled
};
@implementation Forecastr
- (void)checkForecastCacheForURLString:(NSString *)urlString
success:(void (^)(id cachedForecast))success
failure:(void (^)(NSError *error))failure
{
// Check cache for a forecast
id cachedItem = [forecastCache objectForKey:urlString];
if (cachedItem) {
success(cachedItem);
} else {
// Return an error since it wasn't found
failure([NSError errorWithDomain:kFCErrorDomain code:kFCCachedItemNotFound
userInfo:nil]);
}
}
@end

Passing Information
We have already discussed many ways of passing information between classes, such as through methods
or delegates, but we'll discuss a few more here and also give one more example of delegation.
30

Passing through Delegate

A very common way to pass data from one view controller to another is to use a delegate method. An
example of this would be if you had a modal view with a table that showed over top of your view
controller and you needed to know which table cell the user pressed.
AddPersonViewController.h (the modal view)
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "Person.h"
@protocol AddPersonTableViewControllerDelegate <NSObject>
- (void)didSelectPerson:(Person *)person;
@end
@interface AddPersonTableViewController : UITableViewController
@property (nonatomic, weak) id <AddPersonTableViewControllerDelegate>delegate;
@end

AddPersonViewController.m
// Other implementation details left out
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath
*)indexPath
{
Person *person = [people objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
[self.delegate didSelectPerson:person];
}

GroupViewController.m (the normal view)

// Other implementation details left out, such as showing the modal view
// and setting the delegate to self
#pragma mark - AddPersonTableViewControllerDelegate
- (void)didSelectPerson:(Person *)person
{
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
NSLog(@"Selected person: %@", person.fullName);
}

We left out a few implementation details, such as conforming to the

AddPersonTableViewControllerDelegate, but you are welcome to read the delegation section
for those.
Also, notice that we dismiss the modal view controller (AddPersonViewController) in the same
class that originally showed it. This is the recommended approach by Apple.
NSNotificationCenter
Notifications are broadcast messages that are used to decouple classes and establish anonymous
communication between objects at runtime. Notifications may be posted by any number of objects and
received by any number of objects thus enabling one-to-many and many-to-many relationships between
objects.
31

Note: Notifications are sent synchronously so if your observer method takes a long time to return, you are
essentially prevently the notification from being sent to other observing objects.
Registering Observers
You can register to be notified when a certain event has happened, including system notifications, such as
a UITextField which has begun editing.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:@selector(textFieldDidBeginEditing:)
name:UITextFieldTextDidBeginEditingNotification object:self];

When the UITextFieldTextDidBeginEditingNotification notification is broadcast by the

OS framework, the textFieldDidBeginEditing: will be called by NSNotificationCenter
and an object will be sent along with the notification that could contain data.
A possible implementation of the textFieldDidBeginEditing: method could be:
#pragma mark - Text Field Observers
- (void)textFieldDidBeginEditing:(NSNotification *)notification
{
// Optional check to make sure the method was called from the notification
if ([notification.name
isEqualToString:UITextFieldTextDidBeginEditingNotification])
{
// Do something
}
}

Removing Observers
It's important to remove yourself as an observer when the class is deallocated, otherwise
NSNotificationCenter will attempt to call a method on a deallocated class and a crash will ensue.
- (void)dealloc
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self];
}

Posting Notifications
You can also create and post your own notifications. It's best practice to keep notification names in a
constants file so that you don't accidentally misspell one of the notification names and sit there trying to
figure out why the notification wasn't sent/received.
Naming notifications:
Notifications are identified by NSString objects whose names are composed in this way:
[Name of associated class] + [Did | Will] + [UniquePartOfName] + Notification
Declare a string constant, using the notification name as the string's value:
// Remember to put the extern of this in the header file
NSString *const kRPAppDidResumeFromBackgroundNotification =
@"RPAppDidResumeFromBackgroundNotification";
32

Post notification:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
postNotificationName:kRPAppDidResumeFromBackgroundNotification object:self];

View Controller Properties

When you are preparing to display a new view controller, you can assign data to one of it's properties prior
to display:
MyViewController *myVC = [[MyViewController alloc] init];
myVC.someProperty = self.someProperty;
[self presentViewController:myVC animated:YES completion:nil];

Storyboard Segue
When you are transitioning from one view controller to another in a storyboard, there is an easy way to
pass data between the two by implementing the prepareForSegue:sender: method:
#pragma mark - Segue Handler
- (void)prepareForSegue:(UIStoryboardSegue *)segue sender:(id)sender
{
if ([segue.identifier isEqualToString:@"showLocationSearch"] {
[segue.destinationViewController setDelegate:self];
} else if ([segue.identifier isEqualToString:@"showDetailView"]) {
DetailViewController *detailView = segue.destinationViewController;
detailView.location = self.location;
}
}

User Defaults
User defaults are basically a way of storing simple preference values which can be saved and restored
across app launches. It is not meant to be used as a data storage layer, like Core Data or sqlite.
Storing Values
NSUserDefaults *userDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
[userDefaults setValue:@"Some value" forKey:@"RPSomeUserPreference"];

Retrieving Values
NSUserDefaults *userDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
id someValue = [userDefaults valueForKey:@"RPSomeUserPreference"];

There are also other convenience methods on NSUserDefaults instances such as boolForKey:,
stringForKey:, etc.

Common Patterns
Singletons
Singleton's are a special kind of class where only one instance of the class exists for the current process.
They are a convenient way to share data between different parts of an app without creating global
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variables or having to pass the data around manually, but they should be used sparingly since they often
create tighter coupling between classes.
To turn a class into a singleton, you place the following method into the implementation (.m) file, where
the method name is prefixed with shared plus another word which best describes your class. For
example, if the class is a network or location manager, you would name the method sharedManager
instead of sharedInstance.
+ (instancetype)sharedInstance
{
static id sharedInstance = nil;
static dispatch_once_t onceToken;
dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{
sharedInstance = [[self alloc] init];
});
}

return sharedInstance;

The use of dispatch_once ensures that this method is only ever executed once, even if it's called
multiple times across many classes or different threads.
If the above code were placed within MyClass, then you would get a reference to that singleton class in
another class with the following code:
MyClass *myClass = [MyClass sharedInstance];
[myClass doSomething];
NSLog(@"Property value is %@", myClass.someProperty);

---The END---

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