Why aren't objects of type 'id' initialized as pointers with a '*' in Objective-C?

Question

If I\'m using Objective-C, here\'s how I declare an initialize an int:

int a = 1;

vs an object:

myObj *a = [[myObj alloc] init]         


        

Answer 1

Because id means identifier. Identifier, like pointer, identifies the object. Identifier isn't the object itself.

You can always treat it as typedef * id if you want.