alloc

Note: I'm relatively new to Objective-C and am coming from Java and PHP. Could someone explain to me why I always have to first allocate and then initialize an instance? Couldn't this be done in the init methods like this: + (MyClass*)init { MyClass *instance = [MyClass alloc]; [instance setFoo:@"bla"]; return instance; } + (MyClass*)initWithString:(NSString*)text { MyClass *instance = [MyClass init]; [instance setFoo:text]; return instance; } ... Is this just a relict from the old C days or is there something that I'm not seeing? I know this isn't a problem as I could as well always call

I've just read about std::allocator . In my opinion, it is more complicated to use it instead of using new and delete . With allocator we must explicitly allocate heap memory, construct it, destroy it, and then finally deallocate the memory. So why was it created? In which cases can it be used and when should it be used instead of new and delete? Benjamin Lindley std::allocator is the default memory allocator for the standard library containers, and you can substitute your own allocators. This allows you to control how the standard containers allocate memory. But I don't think that your

Quick question... Well I understand that all properties start out as nil in Objective-C and that sending a message to nil does nothing, therefore you must initialize using [[Class alloc] init]; before sending a message to a newly created property. However, what about if I'm not sending messages to this property or if I set the property using self.property = something? Do I need to alloc init in these cases as well? Also, do UI properties start out as nil as well, such as a UILabel property that you drag out from your storyboard? Do these need alloc init? Thanks to all who answer Jason C.