Dot notation dealloc?

Question

@property (copy) NSString *name;
@property (copy) NSString *orbit;
@property (copy) NSNumber *mass;
@property float surfaceTemp;
@property float rotationSpeed;

Currently Have this

- (void)dealloc{
    [name release];
    name = nil;
    [orbit release];
    orbit = nil;
    [mass release];
    mass = nil;
    [super dealloc];
}

If I write this using Dot Notation (Objective-C 2.0) Is this right?

- (void)dealloc{
    self.name = nil;
    self.orbit = nil;
    self.mass = nil;
    [super dealloc];
}

gary

Answer 1

It's bad practice to use your setter methods in -dealloc. Use [name release] instead.

Calling setters during -dealloc may have unintended consequences. If using KVO, setting properties may trigger other code to run causing side effects because your object has already started releasing instance variables. Even when not using KVO this may cause potential problems if your setter method relies on other instance variables that may have already been released.

(updated to reflect comments)

Answer 2

In my experience self.name = nil does not do the same thing as [name release]; name = nil. My guess is that there is some code in the synthesized setter that avoids nil assignments, but YMMV. The properties I observed this on were also specified (nonatomic, retain) so you might see some differences there, too.

What is more, self. notation sends KVO notifications, so there is a performance penalty to be considered in this case as well.