CS193P - Lecture 3

iPhone Application Development

Custom Classes Object Lifecycle Autorelease Properties

Announcements
Assignments 1A and 1B due Thursday 4/9 at 11:59 PM
Enrolled Stanford students can email cs193p@cs.stanford.edu with any questions ! Submit early! Instructions on the website...
!
!

Delete the build directory manually, Xcode wont do it

Announcements
Assignments 2A and 2B due Tuesday 4/14 at 11:59 PM
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2A: Continuation of Foundation tool

Add custom class ! Basic memory management
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2B: Beginning of first iPhone application

Topics to be covered on Monday 4/13 ! Assignment contains extensive walkthrough
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Announcements
Troys office hours: Mondays 12-2, Gates B26A Pauls office hours: Tuesdays 12-2, Gates 463 This weeks optional Friday session (4/10)
200-205, 3:15 - 4:05 PM ! Debugging crash course, not to be missed!
!

Class newsgroup (Stanford-only) at su.class.cs193p

!

No gopher site yet...

Todays Topics
Questions from Assignment 1A or 1B? Creating Custom Classes Object Lifecycle Autorelease Objective-C Properties

Custom Classes

Design Phase
Create a class
!

Person NSObject (in this case) Name, age, whether they can vote Cast a ballot

Determine the superclass

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What properties should it have?

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What actions can it perform?

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Review: Methods, Selectors, Messages

Method
!

Behavior associated with an object

- (NSString *)name { // Implementation } - (void)setName:(NSString *)name { // Implementation }

Review: Methods, Selectors, Messages

Selector
Name for referring to a method ! Includes colons to indicate arguments ! Doesnt actually include arguments or indicate types
!

SEL mySelector = @selector(name); SEL anotherSelector = @selector(setName:); SEL lastSelector = @selector(doStuff:withThing:andThing:);

Review: Methods, Selectors, Messages

Message
The act of performing a selector on an object ! With arguments, if necessary
!

NSString *name = [myPerson name]; [myPerson setName:@New Name];

Defining a class
A public header and a private implementation

Header File

Implementation File

Defining a class
A public header and a private implementation

Header File

Implementation File

Class interface declared in header file

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // method declarations - (NSString *)name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)value; - (int)age; - (void)setAge:(int)age; - (BOOL)canLegallyVote; - (void)castBallot; @end

Defining a class
A public header and a private implementation

Header File

Implementation File

Implementing custom class

Implement setter/getter methods Implement action methods

Class Implementation
#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (int)age { return age; } - (void)setAge:(int)value { age = value; } //... and other methods @end

Calling your own methods

#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (BOOL)canLegallyVote { return ([self age] >= 18); } - (void)castBallot { if ([self canLegallyVote]) { ! ! // do voting stuff } else { ! ! NSLog (@Im not allowed to vote!); } } @end

Superclass methods
As we just saw, objects have an implicit variable named self
!

Like this in Java and C++

- (void)doSomething { // Call superclass implementation first [super doSomething]; // Then do our custom behavior int foo = bar; // ... }

Can also invoke superclass methods using super

Object Lifecycle

Object Lifecycle
Creating objects Memory management Destroying objects

Object Creation
Two step process
allocate memory to store the object ! initialize object state
!

+ alloc
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Class method that knows how much memory is needed Instance method to set initial values, perform other setup

- init
!

Create = Allocate + Initialize

Person *person = nil; person = [[Person alloc] init];

Implementing your own -init method

#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (id)init { // allow superclass to initialize its state first if (self = [super init]) { age = 0; name = @Bob; // do other initialization...

} @end

return self;

Multiple init methods

Classes may define multiple init methods
- (id)init; - (id)initWithName:(NSString *)name; - (id)initWithName:(NSString *)name age:(int)age;

Less specific ones typically call more specific with default values
- (id)init { return [self initWithName:@No Name]; } - (id)initWithName:(NSString *)name { return [self initWithName:name age:0]; }

Finishing Up With an Object

Person *person = nil; person = [[Person alloc] init]; [person setName:@Alan Cannistraro]; [person setAge:29]; [person setWishfulThinking:YES]; [person castBallot]; // What do we do with person when were done?

Memory Management
Allocation C Objective-C
malloc alloc

Destruction
free dealloc

Calls must be balanced

!

Otherwise your program may leak or crash One exception, well see in a bit...

However, youll never call -dealloc directly

!

Reference Counting
Every object has a retain count
Defined on NSObject ! As long as retain count is > 0, object is alive and valid
!

+alloc and -copy create objects with retain count == 1 -retain increments retain count -release decrements retain count

When retain count reaches 0, object is destroyed

-dealloc method invoked automatically
!

One-way street, once youre in -dealloc theres no turning back

Balanced Calls
Person *person = nil; person = [[Person alloc] init]; [person setName:@Alan Cannistraro]; [person setAge:29]; [person setWishfulThinking:YES]; [person castBallot]; // When were done with person, release it [person release]; // person will be destroyed here

Reference counting in action

Person *person = [[Person alloc] init];

Retain count begins at 1 with +alloc

[person retain];

Retain count increases to 2 with -retain

[person release];

Retain count decreases to 1 with -release

[person release];

Retain count decreases to 0, -dealloc automatically called

Messaging deallocated objects

Person *person = [[Person alloc] init]; // ... [person release]; // Object is deallocated

[person doSomething]; // Crash!

Messaging deallocated objects

Person *person = [[Person alloc] init]; // ... [person release]; // Object is deallocated person = nil; [person doSomething]; // No effect

Implementing a -dealloc method

#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (void)dealloc { // Do any cleanup thats necessary // ... // when were done, call super to clean us up [super dealloc];

} @end

Object Lifecycle Recap

Objects begin with a retain count of 1 Increase and decrease with -retain and -release When retain count reaches 0, object deallocated automatically You never call dealloc explicitly in your code
Exception is calling -[super dealloc] ! You only deal with alloc, copy, retain, release
!

Object Ownership
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; // Person class owns the name int age; } // method declarations - (NSString *)name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)value; - (int)age; - (void)setAge:(int)age; - (BOOL)canLegallyVote; - (void)castBallot; @end

Object Ownership
#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (NSString *)name { return name; } - (void)setName:(NSString *)newName { if (name != newName) { [name release]; name = [newName retain]; // names retain count has been bumped up by 1 }

@end

Object Ownership
#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (NSString *)name { return name; } - (void)setName:(NSString *)newName { if (name != newName) { [name release]; name = [newName copy]; // name has retain count of 1, we own it }

@end

Releasing Instance Variables

#import "Person.h" @implementation Person - (void)dealloc { // Do any cleanup thats necessary [name release]; // when were done, call super to clean us up [super dealloc];

} @end

Autorelease

Returning a newly created object

- (NSString *)fullName { NSString *result; result = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@%@ %@, ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! firstName, lastName];

return result; }

Wrong: result is leaked!

Returning a newly created object

- (NSString *)fullName { NSString *result; result = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@%@ %@, ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! firstName, lastName]; [result release]; return result; }

Wrong: result is released too early! Method returns bogus value

Returning a newly created object

- (NSString *)fullName { NSString *result; result = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@%@ %@, ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! firstName, lastName]; [result autorelease]; return result; }

Just right: result is released, but not right away Caller gets valid object and could retain if needed

Autoreleasing Objects
Calling -autorelease flags an object to be sent release at some
point in the future Lets you fulfill your retain/release obligations while allowing an object some additional time to live Makes it much more convenient to manage memory Very useful in methods which return a newly created object

Method Names & Autorelease

Methods whose names includes alloc or copy
return a retained object that the caller needs to release
NSMutableString *string = [[NSMutableString alloc] init]; // We are responsible for calling -release or -autorelease [string autorelease];

All other methods return autoreleased objects

NSMutableString *string = [NSMutableString string]; // The method name doesnt indicate that we need to release it // So dont- were cool!

This is a convention- follow it in methods you define!

How does -autorelease work?

Magic!
(Just kidding...)

How does -autorelease work?

Object is added to current autorelease pool Autorelease pools track objects scheduled to be released
!

When the pool itself is released, it sends -release to all its objects

UIKit automatically wraps a pool around every event dispatch

Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

Pool

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

Pool

Objects autoreleased here go into pool

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

Pool

Objects autoreleased here go into pool

[object autorelease];

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

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Objects autoreleased here go into pool

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

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Objects autoreleased here go into pool

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

Pool
Pool released

Objects autoreleased here go into pool

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

[object release];

Pool

[object release];

Objects autoreleased here go into pool

[object release]; Pool released

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Autorelease Pools (in pictures)

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Objects autoreleased here go into pool

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Hanging Onto an Autoreleased Object

Many methods return autoreleased objects
Remember the naming conventions... ! Theyre hanging out in the pool and will get released later
!

If you need to hold onto those objects you need to retain them
!

Bumps up the retain count before the release happens

name = [NSMutableString string]; // We want to name to remain valid! [name retain]; // ... // Eventually, well release it (maybe in our -dealloc?) [name release];

Side Note: Garbage Collection

Autorelease is not garbage collection Objective-C on iPhone OS does not have garbage collection

Objective-C Properties

Properties
Provide access to object attributes Shortcut to implementing getter/setter methods Also allow you to specify:
read-only versus read-write access ! memory management policy
!

Defining Properties
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // method declarations - (NSString *) name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)value; - (int) age; - (void)setAge:(int)age; - (BOOL) canLegallyVote; - (void)castBallot; @end

Defining Properties
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // method declarations - (NSString *) name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)value; - (int) age; - (void)setAge:(int)age; - (BOOL) canLegallyVote; - (void)castBallot; @end

Defining Properties
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // method declarations - (NSString *) name; - (void)setName:(NSString *)value; - (int) age; - (void)setAge:(int)age; - (BOOL) canLegallyVote; - (void)castBallot; @end

Defining Properties
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // property declarations @property int age ; @property (copy) NSString * name; @property (readonly) BOOL canLegallyVote ;

- (void)castBallot; @end

Defining Properties
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h> @interface Person : NSObject { // instance variables NSString *name; int age; } // property declarations @property int age; @property (copy) NSString *name; @property (readonly) BOOL canLegallyVote;

- (void)castBallot; @end

Synthesizing Properties
@implementation Person - (int)age { return age; } - (void)setAge:(int)value { age = value; } - (NSString *)name { return name; } - (void)setName:(NSString *)value { if (value != name) { [value release]; name = [value copy]; } } - (void)canLegallyVote { ...

Synthesizing Properties
@implementation Person - (int)age { return age; } - (void)setAge:(int)value { age = value; } - (NSString *)name { return name; } - (void)setName:(NSString *)value { if (value != name) { [value release]; name = [value copy]; } } - (void)canLegallyVote { ...

Synthesizing Properties
@implementation Person - (int)age { age return age; } - (void)setAge:(int)value { age = value; } - (NSString *)name { name return name; } - (void)setName:(NSString *)value { if (value != name) { [value release]; name = [value copy]; } } - (void)canLegallyVote { ...

Synthesizing Properties
@implementation Person @synthesize age; @synthesize name; - (BOOL)canLegallyVote { return (age > 17); } @end

Property Attributes
Read-only versus read-write
! @property int age; // read-write by default ! @property (readonly) BOOL canLegallyVote;

Memory management policies (only for object properties)

@property (assign) NSString *name; // pointer assignment ! @property (retain) NSString *name; // retain called ! @property (copy) NSString *name; // copy called

Property Names vs. Instance Variables

Property name can be different than instance variable
@interface Person : NSObject { ! ! ! int numberOfYearsOld; !} ! @property int age; ! @end ! ! ! @implementation Person @synthesize age = numberOfYearsOld; @end

Properties
Mix and match synthesized and implemented properties
@implementation Person @synthesize age; @synthesize name; - (void)setAge:(int)value { age = value; // now do something with the new age value... } @end

Setter method explicitly implemented Getter method still synthesized

Properties In Practice
Newer APIs use @property Older APIs use getter/setter methods Properties used heavily throughout UIKit APIs
!

Not so much with Foundation APIs Properties mean writing less code, but magic can sometimes be non-obvious

You can use either approach

!

Dot Syntax and self

When used in custom methods, be careful with dot syntax for
properties defined in your class References to properties and ivars behave very differently
@interface Person : NSObject { NSString *name; } @property (copy) NSString *name; @end @implementation Person - (void)doSomething { ! ! name = @Fred; ! ! self.name = @Fred; }

// accesses ivar directly! // calls accessor method

Common Pitfall with Dot Syntax

What will happen when this code executes?
@implementation Person - (void)setAge:(int)newAge { ! ! self.age = newAge; } @end

This is equivalent to:

@implementation Person - (void)setAge:(int)newAge { ! ! [self setAge:newAge]; // Infinite loop! } @end

Further Reading
Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language
Defining a Class ! Declared Properties
!

Memory Management Programming Guide for Cocoa

Questions?