[ryannielsen]

Apple doesn't advise developers to avoid ref counting, it advises them to avoid using -retainCount. -retainCount is a weak debugging tool, at best. It doesn't take into account autorelease pools, to start, and any framework-specific memory management is ignored. Its use is discouraged for good reason.

For better tools, check out Instruments, MallocDebug or leaks. Or read Apple's Memory Usage Performance Guidelines, specifically the "Finding Memory Leaks" section. [1] Apple's Technical Note TN2124 "Mac OS X Debugging Magic" even has, in the Cocoa section, an example of how -retainCount can be misleading and confusing. [2]

Nowhere does Apple advise Cocoa developers to avoid ref-counting. Cocoa's ref-counting/GC'd memory management system is considered a huge advantage for the platform.

[1] http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Perfor... [2] http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#technotes/tn2004/tn2...