Question

So I have this method that I see on an open source project, it just boggles my mind why this doesn’t leak memory when I try to run static analyzer. Reason why I think it should leak is because it’s allocating memory but never releasing it. It does release it everytime the method is called (because of the =nil). Can any one shed light for me?

- (BOOL)isValid(NSString *)name
{
    // Using a set so access is faster
    static NSMutableSet *exp = nil;

    // Setup the set once with AB testing info
    if (exp == nil) {

            exp = [[NSMutableSet alloc] initWithCapacity:5];

    }

    if (exp != nil) {
        return YES;
    }

    return NO;
}

Answer 1

the analyzer recognizes the static storage qualifier, and understands that it does not go out of scope (until termination, of course).

It does release it everytime the method is called (because of the =nil).

not so. that happens the first time the method is called — only once because it is static.