List of already used objective-c Prefixes

Question

I'm looking to choose a namespace for a library I'm writing and I'd like to avoid conflicts with other namespaces.

Does anyone know of a website that lists all of the class prefixes in use?

Answer 1

https://cocoadev.github.io/ChooseYourOwnPrefix/ is probably your best bet. It's not "official", but it's a place a lot of devs would look.

In practice, as long as you don't use one that Apple uses, you'll probably be fine.

Answer 2

According to the Apple "Programming in Objective C" document of 2012-12-13, Apple reserves all 2 character prefixes for use in their frameworks. Users are encouraged to employ 3 character prefixes when naming their classes to avoid conflicts with Apple. See the "Conventions" section for details.

Answer 3

As an alternative to initial-letters prefixes:

• If you're writing an application, use no prefix. You're unlikely to encounter another class named AppController in your app.
• Otherwise, use the product name as the prefix. For example, if you've written a color picker named “Whizbang”, name its principal class “WhizbangColorPicker”.