When to use -retainCount?

Question

I would like to know in what situation did you use -retainCount so far, and eventually the problems that can happen using it.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I do find retainCounts very useful when checked using 'Instruments'.

Using the 'allocations' tool, make sure 'Record reference counts' is turned on and you can go into any object and see its retainCount history.

By pairing allocs and releases you can get a good picture of what is going on and often solve those difficult cases where something is not being released.

This has never let me down - including finding bugs in early beta releases of iOS.