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Re: what does metaclass mean?
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Re: what does metaclass mean?


  • Subject: Re: what does metaclass mean?
  • From: Thomas Finley <email@hidden>
  • Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 15:25:11 -0400

On Tuesday, July 1, 2003, at 12:23 PM, Ben Dougall wrote:
about the objective-c pdf. bit confused on what the isa pointer points to when it's in a class structure. more specifically i don't know what metaclass means.

A class's class is a metaclass. When you send a message to an object, it looks in its isa (its class definition) to find the method it should use. When you send a message to a class, it ALSO looks in the class's isa (its class, also called a metaclass) to find the method it should use.

Here's what I remember to help me out: A class of an object is a class, a class of a class is a metaclass, and the class of a metaclass is also a metaclass. (She sells sea shells. :) )

With this stuff in mind, your quote from the definition should make more sense.
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    • Re: what does metaclass mean?
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 >what does metaclass mean? (From: Ben Dougall <email@hidden>)

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