CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-cmemory-managementnsarray
Jonathan Sterling
Jonathan Sterling

Reputation: 18375

Does NSArray copy objects?

When I make an NSArray using +[NSArray arrayWithObjects:], does it copy those objects? If I release the objects after adding them to the array, will I run into problems?

Upvotes: 15

Views: 7167

Answers (1)

Jim Puls
Jim Puls

Reputation: 81082

No, it doesn't copy them. It retains them. Yes, you can safely release the objects after adding them to the array.

The docs, as always, spell this out very clearly:

Arrays maintain strong references to their contents—in a managed memory environment, each object receives a retain message before its id is added to the array and a release message when it is removed from the array or when the array is deallocated. If you want a collection with different object ownership semantics, consider using CFArray Reference, NSPointerArray, or NSHashTable instead.

Upvotes: 34

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