Question

I am creating my own custom object, and I am wondering if I need to retain my properties or use something else such as copy (which does what?)?

@interface Asset : NSObject {
    NSString *name;
    NSNumber *assetId;
    NSNumber *linkId;
    NSNumber *parentId;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name; // should I use retain here or something else?
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *assetId;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *linkId;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *parentId;

@end

Also, in my .m, do I also need synthesize as well as release?

Answer 1

My personal preference:

@interface Asset : NSObject {
    // no need to declare them here the @synthesize in the .m will sort all that out
}


// use copy for NSString as it is free for NSString instances and protects against NSMutableString instances being passed in...thanks to @bbum for this
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

// no need for copy as NSNumber is immutable
@property (nonatomic,retain) NSNumber *assetId;
@property (nonatomic,retain) NSNumber linkId;
@property (nonatomic,retain) NSNumber parentId;

@end