What should my Objective-C singleton look like? [c

Question

My singleton accessor method is usually some variant of:

static MyClass *gInstance = NULL;

+ (MyClass *)instance
{
    @synchronized(self)
    {
        if (gInstance == NULL)
            gInstance = [[self alloc] init];
    }

    return(gInstance);
}

What could I be doing to improve this?

Answer 1

Another option is to use the +(void)initialize method. From the documentation:

The runtime sends initialize to each class in a program exactly one time just before the class, or any class that inherits from it, is sent its first message from within the program. (Thus the method may never be invoked if the class is not used.) The runtime sends the initialize message to classes in a thread-safe manner. Superclasses receive this message before their subclasses.

So you could do something akin to this:

static MySingleton *sharedSingleton;

+ (void)initialize
{
    static BOOL initialized = NO;
    if(!initialized)
    {
        initialized = YES;
        sharedSingleton = [[MySingleton alloc] init];
    }
}

Answer 2

Just wanted to leave this here so I don't lose it. The advantage to this one is that it's usable in InterfaceBuilder, which is a HUGE advantage. This is taken from another question that I asked:

static Server *instance;

+ (Server *)instance { return instance; }

+ (id)hiddenAlloc
{
    return [super alloc];
}

+ (id)alloc
{
    return [[self instance] retain];
}


+ (void)initialize
{
    static BOOL initialized = NO;
    if(!initialized)
    {
        initialized = YES;
        instance = [[Server hiddenAlloc] init];
    }
}

- (id) init
{
    if (instance)
        return self;
    self = [super init];
    if (self != nil) {
        // whatever
    }
    return self;
}

Answer 3

I've rolled singleton into a class, so other classes can inherit singleton properties.

Singleton.h :

static id sharedInstance = nil;

#define DEFINE_SHARED_INSTANCE + (id) sharedInstance {  return [self sharedInstance:&sharedInstance]; } \
                               + (id) allocWithZone:(NSZone *)zone { return [self allocWithZone:zone forInstance:&sharedInstance]; }

@interface Singleton : NSObject {

}

+ (id) sharedInstance;
+ (id) sharedInstance:(id*)inst;

+ (id) allocWithZone:(NSZone *)zone forInstance:(id*)inst;

@end

Singleton.m :

#import "Singleton.h"


@implementation Singleton


+ (id) sharedInstance { 
    return [self sharedInstance:&sharedInstance];
}

+ (id) sharedInstance:(id*)inst {
    @synchronized(self)
    {
        if (*inst == nil)
            *inst = [[self alloc] init];
    }
    return *inst;
}

+ (id) allocWithZone:(NSZone *)zone forInstance:(id*)inst {
    @synchronized(self) {
        if (*inst == nil) {
            *inst = [super allocWithZone:zone];
            return *inst;  // assignment and return on first allocation
        }
    }
    return nil; // on subsequent allocation attempts return nil
}

- (id)copyWithZone:(NSZone *)zone {
    return self;
}

- (id)retain {
    return self;
}

- (unsigned)retainCount {
    return UINT_MAX;  // denotes an object that cannot be released
}

- (void)release {
    //do nothing
}

- (id)autorelease {
    return self;
}


@end

And here is an example of some class, that you want to become singleton.

#import "Singleton.h"

@interface SomeClass : Singleton {

}

@end

@implementation SomeClass 

DEFINE_SHARED_INSTANCE;

@end

The only limitation about Singleton class, is that it is NSObject subclass. But most time I use singletons in my code they are in fact NSObject subclasses, so this class really ease my life and make code cleaner.

Answer 4

For an in-depth discussion of the singleton pattern in Objective-C, look here:

Using the Singleton Pattern in Objective-C

Answer 5

My way is simple like this:

static id instanceOfXXX = nil;

+ (id) sharedXXX
{
    static volatile BOOL initialized = NO;

    if (!initialized)
    {
        @synchronized([XXX class])
        {
            if (!initialized)
            {
                instanceOfXXX = [[XXX alloc] init];
                initialized = YES;
            }
        }
    }

    return instanceOfXXX;
}

If the singleton is initialized already, the LOCK block will not be entered. The second check if(!initialized) is to make sure it is not initialized yet when the current thread acquires the LOCK.

Answer 6

A thorough explanation of the Singleton macro code is on the blog Cocoa With Love

http://cocoawithlove.com/2008/11/singletons-appdelegates-and-top-level.html.