CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-ccoding-style
ibz
ibz

Reputation: 46719

Recommended coding style for setting property values in Objective-C

Let's say I have this interface:

// .h
@interface DataObject : NSObject {
    NSString* value;
}

@property (retain) NSString* value;

@end

// .m

@implementation DataObject

@synthetize value

@end

As far as I understand, the following two snippets are identical:

DataObject *o = [[[DataObject alloc] init] autorelease];
[o setValue: @"Hello"];

DataObject *o = [[[DataObject alloc] init] autorelease];
o.value = @"Hello";

Am I correct? If yes, should I prefer one over another one? Or is it just a style preference?

Thank you.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1196

Answers (4)

Kristopher Johnson
Kristopher Johnson

Reputation: 82535

In August 2009, there was a brouhaha in the blogosphere regarding use of dot syntax.

Upvotes: 0

Abizern
Abizern

Reputation: 150605

Dot notation is just syntactic sugar, so the two are identical.

Upvotes: 1

mmc
mmc

Reputation: 17404

It is a matter of style.

Dot syntax works in many places throughout Objective C, although it is only considered "acceptable" for getters and setters.

Upvotes: 4

Andy White
Andy White

Reputation: 88355

I think the dot notation is preferable over calling the set method. I think the code is more readable, and the dot notation more clearly identifies that you're setting a property, as opposed to just calling a method on the class.

Upvotes: 1

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