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Re: Instance method declaration
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Re: Instance method declaration


  • Subject: Re: Instance method declaration
  • From: Ryan Britton <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 19:16:17 -0700

The Role of the Interface

The purpose of the interface file is to declare the new class to other source modules (and to other programmers). It contains all the information they need to work with the class (programmers might also appreciate a little documentation).

The interface file tells users how the class is connected into the inheritance hierarchy and what other classes—inherited or simply referred to somewhere in the class—are needed.
The interface file also lets the compiler know what instance variables an object contains, and tells programmers what variables subclasses inherit. Although instance variables are most naturally viewed as a matter of the implementation of a class rather than its interface, they must nevertheless be declared in the interface file. This is because the compiler must be aware of the structure of an object where it’s used, not just where it’s defined. As a programmer, however, you can generally ignore the instance variables of the classes you use, except when defining a subclass.
Finally, through its list of method declarations, the interface file lets other modules know what messages can be sent to the class object and instances of the class. Every method that can be used outside the class definition is declared in the interface file; methods that are internal to the class implementation can be omitted.


From http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ ObjectiveC/

You will, however, get warnings for methods that are not declared in the interface.



On May 21, 2006, at 7:04 PM, Angelo Chen wrote:

Hi,

Is declaration of instance method in the header file optional?

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