These guidelines build on Apple's existing Coding Guidelines for Cocoa. Unless explicitly contradicted below, assume that all of Apple's guidelines apply as well.

• Tabs, not spaces.
• End files with a newline.
• Make liberal use of vertical whitespace to divide code into logical chunks.
• Don’t leave trailing whitespace.
  • Not even leading indentation on blank lines.

• All method declarations should be documented.
• Comments should be hard-wrapped at 80 characters.
• Comments should be Tomdoc-style.
• Document whether object parameters allow nil as a value.
• Use #pragma marks to categorize methods into functional groupings and protocol implementations, following this general structure:

#pragma mark Properties @dynamic someProperty; - (void)setCustomProperty:(id)value {} #pragma mark Lifecycle + (instancetype)objectWithThing:(id)thing {} - (instancetype)init {} #pragma mark Drawing - (void)drawRect:(CGRect) {} #pragma mark Another functional grouping #pragma mark GHSuperclass - (void)someOverriddenMethod {} #pragma mark NSCopying - (id)copyWithZone:(NSZone *)zone {} #pragma mark NSObject - (NSString *)description {}

• Never declare an ivar unless you need to change its type from its declared property.
• Don’t use line breaks in method declarations.
• Prefer exposing an immutable type for a property if it being mutable is an implementation detail. This is a valid reason to declare an ivar for a property.
• Always declare memory-management semantics even on readonly properties.
• Declare properties readonly if they are only set once in -init.
• Don't use @synthesize unless the compiler requires it. Note that optional properties in protocols must be explicitly synthesized in order to exist.
• Declare properties copy if they return immutable objects and aren't ever mutated in the implementation. strong should only be used when exposing a mutable object, or an object that does not conform to <NSCopying>.
• Avoid weak properties whenever possible. A long-lived weak reference is usually a code smell that should be refactored out.
• Instance variables should be prefixed with an underscore (just like when implicitly synthesized).
• Don't put a space between an object type and the protocol it conforms to.

@property (attributes) id<Protocol> object; @property (nonatomic, strong) NSObject<Protocol> *object;

• C function declarations should have no space before the opening parenthesis, and should be namespaced just like a class.

void GHAwesomeFunction(BOOL hasSomeArgs);

• Constructors should generally return instancetype rather than id.
• Prefer helper functions (such as CGRectMake()) to C99 struct initialiser syntax.

 CGRect rect = CGRectMake(3.0, 12.0, 15.0, 80.0);

• Don't access an ivar unless you're in -init, -dealloc or a custom accessor.
• Use dot-syntax when invoking idempotent methods, including setters and class methods (like NSFileManager.defaultManager).
• Use object literals, boxed expressions, and subscripting over the older, grosser alternatives.
• Comparisons should be explicit for everything except BOOLs.
• Prefer positive comparisons to negative.
• Long form ternary operators should be wrapped in parentheses and only used for assignment and arguments.

Blah *a = (stuff == thing ? foo : bar);

• Short form, nil coalescing ternary operators should avoid parentheses.

Blah *b = thingThatCouldBeNil ?: defaultValue;

• Separate binary operands with a single space, but unary operands and casts with none:

void *ptr = &value + 10 * 3; NewType a = (NewType)b; for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { doCoolThings(); }

• Always surround if bodies with curly braces if there is an else. Single-line if bodies without an else should be on the same line as the if.
• All curly braces should begin on the same line as their associated statement. They should end on a new line.
• Put a single space after keywords and before their parentheses.
• Return and break early.
• No spaces between parentheses and their contents.

if (somethingIsBad) return; if (something == nil) { // do stuff } else { // do other stuff }

• Don't use exceptions for flow control.
• Use exceptions only to indicate programmer error.
• To indicate errors, use an NSError ** argument or send an error on a ReactiveCocoa signal.

• Blocks should have a space between their return type and name.
• Block definitions should omit their return type when possible.
• Block definitions should omit their arguments if they are void.
• Parameters in block types should be named unless the block is initialized immediately.

void (^blockName1)(void) = ^{ // do some things }; id (^blockName2)(id) = ^ id (id args) { // do some things };

• Avoid making numbers a specific type unless necessary (for example, prefer 5 to 5.0, and 5.3 to 5.3f).
• The contents of array and dictionary literals should have a space on both sides.
• Dictionary literals should have no space between the key and the colon, and a single space between colon and value.

NSArray *theStuff = @[ @1, @2, @3 ]; NSDictionary *keyedStuff = @{ GHDidCreateStyleGuide: @YES };

• Longer or more complex literals should be split over multiple lines (optionally with a terminating comma):

NSArray *theStuff = @[ @"Got some long string objects in here.", [AndSomeModelObjects too], @"Moar strings." ]; NSDictionary *keyedStuff = @{ @"this.key": @"corresponds to this value", @"otherKey": @"remoteData.payload", @"some": @"more", @"JSON": @"keys", @"and": @"stuff", };

• Categories should be named for the sort of functionality they provide. Don't create umbrella categories.
• Category methods should always be prefixed.
• If you need to expose private methods for subclasses or unit testing, create a class extension named Class+Private.