objective c - Is a literal NSString autoreleased or does it need to be released?

Question

When creating a string using the following notation:

NSString *foo = @"Bar";

Does one need to release foo? Or is foo autoreleased in this case?

Answer 1

Compiler allocated strings (of the format @"STRING") are constant, and so -retain, -release, and -autorelease messages to them are ignored. You don't have to release or autorelease foo in this case (but it won't hurt).