The Core iOS Developer’s Cookbook, Fifth Edition

A. Objective-C Literals

Think about how often you type cookie-cutter templates like [NSNumber numberWith-Integer:5] to produce number objects in your code. Perhaps you’ve defined macros to simplify your coding. Beginning in Xcode 4.4 (and LLVM 4.0), Objective-C literals introduce features that transform awkward constructs such as NSNumber and NSArray creation instances into easy-to-read parsimonious expressions.

Speaking as those who long created/used macro definitions for the NSNumber declarations, we love the way these literals provide more readable, succinct code. These literals save an enormous amount of typing and provide a natural, coherent presentation.

Now, instead of establishing an endless series of those declarations, you can use a ...