macOS In Init, does self refer to the class or the instance?

[teguh123]

Also is there any case where we call alloc and not init after that?

What confuses me is things like

self= [super init]

Basically, if self is a pointer to the class, we're tell self to point to the address described by [super init]

The problem with that is self should already point to whatever address returned by alloc right?

So why change it?

 

[Catfish_Man]

In any instance method (-), self refers to the instance. In any class method (+), self refers to the class. Always call an init method after calling +alloc. The reason to set it is that some classes play tricks in -init and don't return the same object that +alloc did.

 

[chown33]

Cocoa Fundamentals Guide

In particular, read the sub-section on "Basic Subclass Design". Ideally, you should read the entire guide.