Will the retain count increase when added to an array?

Question

I just wanted to know: will the retain count of an object be incremented if it is added to an array or dictionary in Objective-C? Can I release a particular object immediately after adding it to an array or dictionary?

Answer 1

Yes, it will increase the retain count of the object you added, that is why you can release the object immediately after adding it to the array.

NSObject obj1;
obj1=[[NSObject alloc] init];
//obj1's retain count is 1 here.

[array1 addobject:obj1];
//obj1's retain count incremented by 1, so the total retain count is 2.

[obj1 release];
//obj1's retain count decremented by 1, so the total retain count is 1.

array1 will keep the object until the array1 itself is not released.