CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-cdynamic
fdh
fdh

Reputation: 5344

Usage of "id" in Objective-C?

I have a function that returns "id". Does this include a return of void? (as in nothing) Or does "id" require some kind of object/variable?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 503

Answers (4)

Graham Perks
Graham Perks

Reputation: 23390

'id' is a pointer to an instance of an Objective-C class. So your method can return a pointer to an instance, or 'nil' (a zero pointer).

Upvotes: 1

Sergey Kalinichenko
Sergey Kalinichenko

Reputation: 726499

In Objective C, id means object of any type, akin to void* in C/C++. You can return nil for from a function returning id to indicate that you do not want to return anything in particular.

Upvotes: 1

Caleb
Caleb

Reputation: 124997

In Objective-C, id is a keyword that represents an untyped object pointer. It's kinda like void*, the untyped pointer, but it adds the restriction that the pointer must point to some sort of Objective-C object.

Upvotes: 4

dgund
dgund

Reputation: 3467

id is a general data type that can wrap most objects. If you can, you usually want to opt for coding specific data types, but if the situation (in a method for example) can use a wide range of data types, id is used.

This Stackoverflow post should help to explain what it is and when to use it. A simple Google search will also turn up information.

Upvotes: 1

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