Don’t Use Accessor Methods in Initializer Methods and dealloc
Here's an example I wrote which demonstrates two things:
- how initialization can be reordered
- how leaks can be introduced
Initializing a property, dot notation
Although the example focuses on initialization, dealloc is susceptible to similar categories of problems. As one specific example: an object may partially resurrect itself in dealloc, and reference count imbalances become a potential danger.
Briefly, you want to focus on correct initialization and cleanup of the data your objects need -- rather than the behavioral concerns/influence of your objects through any subclasses.
More reading:
Why myInstance = nil instead of self.myInstance = nil?
Should I refer to self.property in the init method with ARC?
Best way to set a retained property to a newly created object