Question

Assuming that I wrote the code below in a class A:

-(NSArray *) returnListNames {

    NSArray *returnList = [NSArray arrayWithArray:myListNames];

    return (returnList);
}

And in a class B I get that list in some scope in this way:

{
    /* Without ARC I would  retain the array returned from ClassA 
       to guarantee its reference like this:
       [[myClassA returnListNames] retain]; */

    NSArray *myNames = [myClassA returnListNames];  

}

Considering that the returnList was allocated using an autorelease method, how can I guarantee that I won’t lose the reference to it using ARC (under which I can’t use retain)?
Will I have to use [[NSArray alloc] init] on the myNames array? Or I must use alloc on returnList instead of an autorelease method? Or can I just rely on ARC? Or is there another solution?

Answer 1

ARC will handle this for you, so you can just rely on it and go about your business with that array. If it sees that you need to retain myNames, it will add a retain call for you for example, or do whatever else it actually does when you compile the code that uses it.