Objective-C Style Guide

This style guide outlines the coding conventions of the iOS team at Devbridge Group. This style guide is always updated and accepts change requests. Shoot us a mail at mobile@devbridge.com.

Introduction

Motivated by the coding patterns we adopted over the years and inspired by other great style guides like the NYTimes, GitHub and Google's. If something isn't mentioned in this document it was probably covered in-depth by Apple:

Whitespace
Expressions
Control Structures
Expressions
Blocks
Literals
Exceptions and Error Handling
Preprocessor Directives
Comments
Imports
Declarations
IBOutlets
Categories
Protocols
Tests
ReactiveCocoa
Objective-clean

Whitespace

Indentation with 4 spaces, no Tabs.
Liberal use of whitespace within methods to divide code into logical chunks.
There is no requirement to limit code line screen length. Xcode word wrapping does a pretty good job. However, this shouldn't be abused and code must be divided into sepparate lines given that it would improve readability. Most cases will be outlined in other sections of this document.

For example:

- (void)foo
{
    if (something) {
        return;
    } 
    else {
        return;
    }
}

###New lines

Instances when adding a new line is required:

before and after these statments: @implementation, @interface, @class, @protocol, #pragma mark
before and after the method or function implementation
before @end
Method braces open on the next line from method declaration. if\else\switch\while statement braces open on the same line.

Expressions

Don't access an instance variable unless you're in -init, -dealloc or a custom accessor.
Use the dot notation when invoking idempotent methods (their return values don't change much). This includes property getters and setters as well as methods that act like getters.
BOOL comparisons should never be explicit. if (isSomething == YES) {} is not guaranteed to work because a true BOOL can be any bit value but not a 0. Use if (isSomething) {} instead.
Prefer positive comparisons to negative.
Avoid long ternary operators, when nesting more than one is require use nested if statements instead. From:

int a = (stuff == thing ? (test ? foo : barbar) : bar);

To:

int a;
if (stuff == thing) {
    if (test) {
        a = foo;
    } 
    else {
        a = barbar;
    }
} 
else {
    a = bar;
}

Use short form, nil coalescing ternary operators where applicable.

Blah *b = thingThatCouldBeNil ?: defaultValue;

Separate binary operands with a single space, but unary operands and casts with none:

void *ptr = &value + 10 * 3;
NewType a = (NewType)b;

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    doCoolThings();
}

Avoid using == equality operator on objects. Instead, use - isEqual: method.

Control Structures

Always surround if bodies with curly braces if there is an else. Single-line if bodies without an else should be on the same line as the if.
All curly braces should begin on the same line as their associated statement. They should end on a new line.
Put a single space after keywords and before their parentheses.
Return and break early.

For example:

if (somethingIsBad) return;

if (something == nil) {
    // do stuff
} 
else {
    // do other stuff
}

##Blocks

Blocks should have a space between their return type and name.
Block definitions should omit their return type when possible.
Block definitions should omit their arguments if they are void.
Parameters in block types should be named unless the block is initialized immediately.

###For example:

void (^blockName1)(void) = ^{
    // do some things
};

id (^blockName2)(id) = ^(id args) {
    // do some things
};

##Literals

Avoid making numbers a specific type unless necessary (for example, prefer 5 to 5.0, and 5.3 to 5.3f).
Elements of array and dictionary literals should have a space after their separating comma.
The contents of array and dictionary literals should have no spaces on sides.
Dictionary literals should have a space between the colon and the value.
Long and complex literals are to be split over multiple lines, with lines having a terminating comma where appropriate.

###For example:

NSArray *stuff = @[@1, @2, @3];
NSDictionary *keyedStuff = @{@"myKey": @YES};

NSArray *stuff = @[
    @"Got some long string objects in here.",
    [AndSomeModelObjects too],
    @"More strings."
];

NSDictionary *keyedStuff = @{
    @"this.key": @"corresponds to this value",
    @"otherKey": @"remoteData.payload",
    @"some": @"more",
    @"JSON": @"keys",
    @"and": @"stuff"
};

##Enumerations

Use only NS_ENUM for enumerations and NS_OPTIONS for bitmasks.
Prefix enumeration name with 2 or 3 character abbreviation of the project.
Avoid defining explicit values inside enum, unless really needed.
Prefix enum values with k. Try to keep value names consice but not too short to avoid possible overlay with other libraries;
Place unknown or undefined value as a first in the list, so that it is default. If application is trusted to never have undefined value, you can ommit having unkown value.
If convertion between enum and object is needed, write a C function next to the enum definition.

###For example: ####Enums.h:

NS_ENUM (NSUInteger, DBPaymentMethod) {
    kPaymentUnknown,
    kPaymentVisa,
    kPaymentMasterCard
};
DBPaymentMethod paymentMethodFromString(NSString *str);
NSString *stringFromPaymentMethod(DBPaymentMethod method);

####Enums.m

DBPaymentMethod paymentMethodFromString(NSString *str)
{
    if ([str isEqualToString:@"Visa"]) return kPaymentVisa;
    if ([str isEqualToString:@"MasterCard"]) return kPaymentMasterCard;
    return kPaymentUnknown;
}

NSString *stringFromPaymentMethod(DBPaymentMethod method)
{
    switch (method) {
        case kPaymentVisa: return @"Visa";
        case kPaymentMasterCard: return @"MasterCard";
        default: return nil;
    }
    return nil;
}

##Exceptions and Error Handling

Don't use exceptions for flow control.
Use exceptions only to indicate programmer error.
Use NSParameterAssert in methods that have required parameters. Do not put expressions that change values inside these macros.
To indicate errors, use an NSError ** argument.

Preprocessor Directives

Use #pragma mark - <section_name> to sepparate class code into sections of similar function. In particular, when implementing delegate's methods, name the section after delegates name. For instance, methods of UITextFieldDelegate should be located under #pragma mark - UITextFieldDelegate section.
Use #ifdef, #ifndef and #define to change constants and flow based on what configuration the project is built on, by passing preprocessor macros.
Avoiding uses of #define for constants. Use static const or extern const variables instead, e.g. static const NSInteger kMultiplier = 5;. It helps to have strongly referenced code that is better managed by Xcode. See this article for more details.
Avoid writing helper functions using #define. Implement C inline functions instead.
Avoid using #warning or #error directives, unless it is really neeeded. Having artificial warnings obscure the view of real problems. If you want to annotate your code, consider using comments instead.

For example:

#pragma mark - My section

- (id)init
{
    return nil;
}

- (id)initWithFoo:(id)bar
{
#ifdef DEBUG
    return 1;
#endif
    return nil;
}

Comments

Consider using HeaderDoc documentation in your header files. These comments are automatically parsed by Xcode to produce on-demand documentation similar to system classes. An example block (notice the extra asterisk at the start):

/**
@abstract <#short description#>
@discussion <#long multiline description#>
@param <#name#> <#purpose#>
@return <#description of returned value#>
@throws <#thrown exception#>
@code <#clarifying code snippet#>
*/
- (void)removeComments:(NSUinteger)count

A separate @param tag is required for every parameter. If nothing is supplied the parent description is shown in the ⌥click. This snippet can be saved to Xcode to quickly generate comments on shortcut:

/**
@abstract <#short description#>
@discussion <#long multiline description#>
*/

You can read more about HeaderDoc here.

Use following comment structures to keep track of issues in code. Xcode's jumpbar will automatically highlight these comments. In addition, using XToDo plugin will make it easier to keep track of them.

Use TODO to indicate incomplete code.
Use FIXME to indicate malfunctioning code.
Use !!! for code that is likely to have a critical issue.
Use ??? for unclear code that needs to be discussed.

For example:

//TODO: Implement this

//FIXME: This is buggy

//!!!: This is totally wrong!

//???: Why is it here?

Imports

When importing system frameworks or Cocoapods dependencies, use angle brackes and put a framework name as a prefix:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <AFNetowkring/AFNetowkring.h>

Imports have to be included in headers, where protocol definition is needed.
Imports have to be moved out of header files, where possible. If your header file contains a property or a method that requires specific class, define that class with @class instruction and put #import into implementation file instead. See this article for more details.
Eliminate unused imports in your classes. Remember, the less dependencies a class has, the easier it is to test it.
Never use #include, unless it is C++ code.
Consider using @import over #import in projects that support Objective-C modules. See this article for details.

For example:

####DBClass.h:

#import "DBOtherClass.h"

@class DBYetAnotherClass;
@interface DBClass <DBOtherClassDelegate>

@property (nonatomic, strong) DBYetAnotherClass *myProperty;

@end

####DBClass.m:

#import "DBClass.h"
#import "DBYetAnotherClass.h"

@implementation DBClass

@end

Declarations

Class names must be prefixed with 2 or 3 character abbreviation of the project.
Don’t use line breaks in method declarations.
Method declarations should begin with (-/+) symbol followed by a space and the return type. Properties should only have a space separating them from each other and a the * symbol from the property type (where applicable):

- (void)foo:(id)bar something:(NSObject *)something;

Always declare memory-management semantics even on readonly properties.
Declare properties readonly if they are only set once in -init.
Delegates must be marked as weak.
Don't use @synthesize unless the compiler requires it. Note that optional properties in protocols must be explicitly synthesized in order to exist.
Instance variables should be prefixed with an underscore (just like when implicitly synthesized).
Don't put a space between an object type and the protocol it conforms to.

@property (attributes) id<Protocol> object;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSObject<Protocol> *object;

Constructors should generally return instancetype rather than id.
Singleton methods must return instancetype.
Consider using NS_DESIGNATED_INITIALIZER for -init methods that must be used to create an instance:

- (instancetype)initWithName:(NSString *)name NS_DESIGNATED_INITIALIZER;

Method declarations that accept NSError pointers must embed __autoreleasing attribute. In addition, such methods must return BOOL, according to conventions:

- (BOOL)parseResponse:(id)response error:(NSError *__autoreleasing *)error;

Properties that are used solely inside a class must be defined in class extension inside the implementation file and not in the header file.
Instance variables must be defined in class extension inside the implementation file and not in the header file.

##IBOutlets

Always place IBOutlets inside implementation file.
If you want to expose IBOutlet property to outside world, consider creating a shadow readonly property in the header file, while still keeping IBOutlet inside the implementation file.

###For example: ####DBClass.h

@interface DBClass

@property (nonatomic, readonly) UILabel *myLabel;

@end

####DBClass.m

#import "DBClass.h"

@interface DBClass ()

@property (nonatomic, strong) IBOutlet UILabel *myLabel;

@end

@implementation DBClass

@end

##Categories

Categories should be named for the sort of functionality they provide.
Category name and class extension's brackets should be separated from the class name with a whitespace.
Category filenames should be constructed as ClassName+CategoryName (with plus being an actual part of the filename).
Expossing private methods for subclasses or unit testing should be done by creating a class extension named Class_Private.h.
Categories for classes from system frameworks or 3rd-party dependencies must be prefixed with the abreviation of the project followed by underscore to avoid runtime collisions with hidden methods. Also, category names with 2 or 3 character abbreviation of your project. For instance:

@interface UIImage (DBResize)

- (UIImage *)db_resizeImage;

@end

Massive view controllers or huge manager singletons can have their code dispersed and categorized over several files with categories. In these cases we leave the category method declaration calls in the main class header, but we create different files for category method impementations.

###For example: ####DBClass.h

@interface DBClass

- (id)init;

@end

@interface DBClass (Foo)

- (void)bar;

@end

####DBClass.m

#import "DBClass.h"

@implementation DBClass

- (id)init
{
    return nil;
}

@end

####DBClass+Foo.m

#import "DBClass.h"
@implementation DBClass (Foo)

- (void)bar
{
    return;
}

@end

##Protocols

Do not define protocol methods as optional, unless it is explicitly needed.
When calling delegate's optional methods, always check that it is implemented, for instance:

if ([self.delegate respondsToSelector:@selector(optionalMethod)]) {
    [self.delegate optionalMethod];
}

Unless explicitly needed for subclassing, declare protocol support in class extension inside implementation file instead of the header file.

###For example: ####DBClass.h:

@interface DBClass

@end

####DBClass.m:

#import "DBClass.h"

@interface DBClass () <UITextFieldDelegate>

@end

@implementation DBClass

@end

##Tests

Name test class names after the class that is being tested. For example, DBClass_tests.m.
For each tests case, put underscore in the method's name after word test and elsewhere if it makes it easier to read. For instance: - (void)test_operationSucceeds or - (void)test_operationSucceeds_withDelay.
Avoid constructing bulky test methods. Instead separate the large code block into smaller methods and name them appropriately. If they have common setup routine, consider writing a helper method or using - setUp.

##ReactiveCocoa

For ReactiveCocoa and other frameworks that rely heavily on block chaining, we enforce the indenting of every chained RACSignal/RACStream operation:

RACStream *result = [stream startWith:@0];

RACStream *result2 = [stream map:^(NSNumber *value) {
    return @(value.integerValue + 1);
}];

When transforming the same stream multiple times, ensure that all of the steps are aligned. Complex operators like +zip:reduce: or +combineLatest:reduce: may be split over multiple lines for readability:

[[RACSignal 
    merge:@[ 
        [client fetchUserRepos],
        [client fetchOrgRepos]
    ]] 
    subscribeCompleted:^{
        NSLog(@"They're both done!");
    }];

When invoking a single method upon a stream, no additional indentation is necessary (block arguments aside):

RACStream *result = [stream startWith:@0];

RACStream *result2 = [stream map:^(NSNumber *value) {
    return @(value.integerValue + 1);
}];

Generally we try to follow the official ReactiveCocoa guidelines

##Objective Clean

To enforce some of these rules automatically we use the Objective-Clean app. Here's our default StyleSettings.

devbridge/Objective-C-Style-Guide

Objective-C Style Guide

Introduction

Table of Contents

Whitespace

For example:

Expressions

Control Structures

For example:

Preprocessor Directives

For example:

Comments

For example:

Imports

For example:

Declarations