Objective-C Pocket Reference

Objective-C is an exciting and dynamic approach to C-based object-oriented programming; it's the approach adopted by Apple as the foundation for programming under Mac OS X, a Unix-based operating system gaining wide acceptance among programmers and other technologists. Objective-C is easy to learn and has a simple elegance that is a welcome breath of fresh air after the abstruse and confusing C++. To help you master the fundamentals of this language, you'll want to keep the Objective-C Pocket Reference close at hand. This small book contains a wealth of valuable information to speed you over the learning curve.

In this pocket reference, author Andrew Duncan provides a quick and concise introduction to Objective-C for the experienced programmer. In addition to covering the essentials of Objective-C syntax, Andrew also covers important faces of the language such as memory management, the Objective-C runtime, dynamic loading, distributed objects, and exception handling.

O'Reilly's Pocket References have become a favorite among programmers everywhere. By providing important details in a succinct, well-organized format, these handy books deliver just what you need to complete the task at hand. When you've reached a sticking point in your work and need to get to a solution quickly, the new Objective-C Pocket Reference is the book you'll want to have.

Table of Contents

Introduction  

What Is Objective-C?  

      Dynamic Dispatch  

      Dynamic Typing  

      Dynamic Loading  

      Which Objective-C?  

      How Do I Get Started?  

Elements of the Language  

      Objects  

      Classes  

      Inheritance and Subtyping  

      Fields  

      Methods  

      Categories  

      Protocols  

      Declarations  

      Predefined Types, Constants, and Variables  

Compiler and Preprocessor Directives  

      Class Declarations and Definitions  

      Forward Declarations  

      Expanding Directives  

      Preprocessor Symbols  

Compiler Flags  

Remote Messaging  

      Pointer Parameter Qualifiers  

      Return Value Qualifiers  

      Object Qualifiers  

Object Lifecycle  

      Creating an Object  

      Copying an Object  

      Deallocating an Object  

Runtime Errors  

      Object Error Handling  

      Exceptions in Cocoa  

Runtime Environment  

      Class Objects  

      Metaclass Objects  

      Selectors  

      Protocol Objects  

Root Classes  

      Fields  

      Methods  

      The Object Class  

      The NSObject Class  

Forwarding Messages  

      Object Forwarding  

      NSObject Forwarding  

Memory Management  

      Manual Memory Management  

      Reference Counting  

      Garbage Collection  

Archiving Objects  

      Archiving Descendants of Object  

      Archiving Descendants of NSObject  

Key-Value Coding  

      Access Permissions  

      NSKeyValueCoding Methods  

      Handling Key Lookup Failures  

Optimizing Method Calls  

Objective-C++  

Objective-C Resources  

Index