isa pointer in objective-c

Question

From this reference:

When a new object is created, memory for it is allocated, and its instance variables are initialized. First among the object’s vari

Answer 1

The real benefit is a better understanding of the Objective-C runtime, which is actually quite complex compared to static languages like C++. The isa pointer, in practical terms, isn't really used all that much unless you're hacking the runtime to do something special. This guide has more info on how it is used by the runtime.

You shouldn't really use the isa directly in production code. It's like retainCount - it's important you understand it but you shouldn't ever call it.