Objective C syntax paradigm

Question

I am fairly new with Objective C and getting my feet wet! I have came across with two different notations in syntax,

1. Dot notation
2. Square bracket notation

I would like to ask, Which would be more preferable? As I am learning this straight after java I am much more familiar with dot notation. So should consider it to be a normal pattern for whatever code I write? Does industry standardised which notation to use?

Thanks for your help

Answer 1

The dot notation is only available for properties and of course C structs. Whether you prefer:

foo.aProperty = bar.anotherProperty;

or:

[foo setAProperty:[bar anotherProperty]];

...is a matter of taste. I personally prefer the second one because it's absolutely clear there's two method calls involved. You can't tell at a first glance in this case:

CGFloat x = myView.frame.origin.x;

This is equivalent to:

CGFloat x = [myView frame].origin.x;

In the second example, it's clearly visible that a method call is involved, but the first example tends to be more readable.

So use whichever suits you, both are okay (though I guess most developers tend to use the first one, partly due to the fact it's faster to type and tends to be more legible).