How do I initialize a variable instance which is an object properly?

Question

I am an Objective C newbie and I'm sure this is an easy question but I can't figure this out: I have a class which declares an instance variable called myDeck, which is part of a custom class I created called Deck. Right now I have this in my code:

In the @interface:

Deck *myDeck;

In my init method:

Deck *ourDeck = [[Deck alloc]init];
myDeck = ourDeck;

So this seems to create the myDeck just fine, and I can stick values in it and run it's methods for a while, but I'm running into a spot where it ceases to exist and I get an EXC_BAD_ACCESS error when trying to use it.

I have tried adding

[myDeck retain];

to no avail, it still fails in the same spots. I don't really know how I should be alloc and initting this, I have a feeling I am missing something, anyone?

Answer 1

Everything you're doing there seems right; except I think you might have a typo in your first example - the instance variable is called myDeck, not deck, right? If your object is disappearing it's because you called release or autorelease too many times. Memory management in Cocoa is pretty straightforward. Go check out the documentation for all the information you could ever want.