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

Pavel's answer is correct. Specifically, the "<mysterious-root-type> " is declared in objc.h as:

typedef struct objc_class *Class;
typedef struct objc_object {
    Class isa;
} *id;

Answer 2

Because id is defined as:

typedef struct objc_object {
    Class isa;
} *id;

So it's already a pointer.

Answer 3

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

You can always treat it as typedef <some-mysterious-root-type>* id if you want.