@synthesize vs @dynamic, what are the differences?

Question

What are the differences between implementing a @property with @dynamic or @synthesize?

Answer 1

here is example of @dynamic

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface Book : NSObject
{
   NSMutableDictionary *data;
}
@property (retain) NSString *title;
@property (retain) NSString *author;
@end

@implementation Book
@dynamic title, author;

- (id)init
{
    if ((self = [super init])) {
        data = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
        [data setObject:@"Tom Sawyer" forKey:@"title"];
        [data setObject:@"Mark Twain" forKey:@"author"];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc
{
    [data release];
    [super dealloc];
}

- (NSMethodSignature *)methodSignatureForSelector:(SEL)selector
{
    NSString *sel = NSStringFromSelector(selector);
    if ([sel rangeOfString:@"set"].location == 0) {
        return [NSMethodSignature signatureWithObjCTypes:"v@:@"];
    } else {
        return [NSMethodSignature signatureWithObjCTypes:"@@:"];
    }
 }

- (void)forwardInvocation:(NSInvocation *)invocation
{
    NSString *key = NSStringFromSelector([invocation selector]);
    if ([key rangeOfString:@"set"].location == 0) {
        key = [[key substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(3, [key length]-4)] lowercaseString];
        NSString *obj;
        [invocation getArgument:&obj atIndex:2];
        [data setObject:obj forKey:key];
    } else {
        NSString *obj = [data objectForKey:key];
        [invocation setReturnValue:&obj];
    }
}

@end

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

    Book *book = [[Book alloc] init];
    printf("%s is written by %s\n", [book.title UTF8String], [book.author UTF8String]);
    book.title = @"1984";
    book.author = @"George Orwell";
    printf("%s is written by %s\n", [book.title UTF8String], [book.author UTF8String]);

   [book release];
   [pool release];
   return 0;
}

Answer 2

@dynamic is typically used (as has been said above) when a property is being dynamically created at runtime. NSManagedObject does this (why all its properties are dynamic) -- which suppresses some compiler warnings.

For a good overview on how to create properties dynamically (without NSManagedObject and CoreData:, see: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjCRuntimeGuide/Articles/ocrtDynamicResolution.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008048-CH102-SW1

Answer 3

As per the Apple documentation.

You use the @synthesize statement in a class’s implementation block to tell the compiler to create implementations that match the specification you gave in the @property declaration.

You use the @dynamic statement to tell the compiler to suppress a warning if it can’t find an implementation of accessor methods specified by an @property declaration.

More info:-

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/DevPedia-CocoaCore/DeclaredProperty.html

Answer 4

One thing want to add is that if a property is declared as @dynamic it will not occupy memory (I confirmed with allocation instrument). A consequence is that you can declare property in class category.

Answer 5

As per the documentation:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/cocoa/conceptual/ObjCRuntimeGuide/Articles/ocrtDynamicResolution.html

@dynamic tells the compiler that the accessor methods are provided at runtime.

With a little bit of investigation I found out that providing accessor methods override the @dynamic directive.

@synthesize tells the compiler to create those accessors for you (getter and setter)

@property tells the compiler that the accessors will be created, and that can be accessed with the dot notation or [object message]

Answer 6

As others have said, in general you use @synthesize to have the compiler generate the getters and/ or settings for you, and @dynamic if you are going to write them yourself.

There is another subtlety not yet mentioned: @synthesize will let you provide an implementation yourself, of either a getter or a setter. This is useful if you only want to implement the getter for some extra logic, but let the compiler generate the setter (which, for objects, is usually a bit more complex to write yourself).

However, if you do write an implementation for a @synthesize'd accessor it must still be backed by a real field (e.g., if you write -(int) getFoo(); you must have an int foo; field). If the value is being produce by something else (e.g. calculated from other fields) then you have to use @dynamic.