Re: Beginner with Cocoa

FROM : Chris Hanson
DATE : Mon Mar 24 19:39:09 2008

On Mar 24, 2008, at 10:01 AM, Jack Repenning wrote:
> On Mar 24, 2008, at 7:13 AM, Erik Buck wrote:

>> For the record, reference counting for memory management is one of 
>> the oldest techniques in software and is not unique to Objective-C 
>> or Cocoa.  Microsoft Foundation Class CString uses it.  COM/Active-
>> X IUnknown uses it.  It's essential to using DirectX.  It's 
>> essential to using embedded controls.

>
> Reference counting is well established.  Retain/release is not 
> reference counting.


Yes, it is.  Aside from the availability of autorelease, Objective-C's 
retain/release rules are not significantly different from those for 
AddRef/Release in Microsoft COM & ActiveX.  And as others have pointed 
out, there are even reference-counted smart pointers in Standard C++; 
these have explicit (C++-style) API.

Some programming environments hide the fact that reference counting is 
taking place.  Not all do.  Objective-C and Cocoa are not unique in 
this respect.

  -- Chris