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iOS Objective-C Basics (Retired) Introduction to Objective-C Introducing @property

Taylor Mahony
Taylor Mahony
5,814 Points
Posted by Taylor Mahony
Taylor Mahony
5,814 Points

Why use instances, setters and getters at all?

So I just watched one video about instance variables, setters and getters, and then another about properties in which you blew away most of the code and yet it still worked. My question is- will we ever use instance variables, setters and getters? Or should we not even worry about commuting them to memory if properties are the way to go?

3 Answers

James Andrews
James Andrews
7,245 Points

The reason is because sometimes you want to intercept what is being passed in during a getter or a setter and do something with it. This could be checking to see if the value is > a default max value which allows you to throw an error and not actually set the variable. Or even using 2 variables to set a 3rd variable. Properties are only a convenience if you don't have to do anything with the data at the time of set or get.