Question

Declaration.

 @property (nonatomic, retain) footballResultsParser * FBRP;

Method of alloc.

-(void) viewDidLoad
 {
    if (FBRP == nil)
    {
     FBRP = [[footballResultsParser alloc] init];
     [FBRP updateResults];
    }
  }

Is that the proper and safe way you alloc objects in your viewDidLoad?
I assume its possible that viewDidLoad will get called more than once and the object might already exists.

To dealloc safely.

-(void) dealloc
{
    if (FBRP != nil)
    {
     [FBRP release];
    }
}

Is there a better way to do memory management that this?

Answer 1

You should also release them in viewDidUnload. For reference, here is the related documentation in the UIViewController class reference.

When a low-memory warning occurs, the
UIViewController class purges its
views if it knows it can reload or
recreate them again later. If this
happens, it also calls the
viewDidUnload method to give your code
a chance to relinquish ownership of
any objects that are associated with
your view hierarchy, including objects
loaded with the nib file, objects
created in your viewDidLoad method,
and objects created lazily at runtime
and added to the view hierarchy.
Typically, if your view controller
contains outlets (properties or raw
variables that contain the IBOutlet
keyword), you should use the
viewDidUnload method to relinquish
ownership of those outlets or any
other view-related data that you no
longer need.

Btw, when releasing, you don’t have to check if the object is nil. Sending messages to nil does nothing, it’s safe.