iphone - what does -arrayWithArray actually DO?

Question

I want to see EXACTLY how it creates an array. How can I view the .m files that show how it's done?

Answer 1

As @Ken mentioned, you can't see the source (although you can disassemble the method via gdb).

The method itself creates an immutable (can't be changed), autoreleased copy of the given array. The following are identical in behavior:

// Both resulting arrays are immutable and won't be retained
NSArray* immutableArray = [[[NSArray alloc] initWithArray:mutableArray] autorelease];
NSArray* immutableArray = [NSArray arrayWithArray:mutableArray];
NSArray* immutableArray = [[mutableArray copy] autorelease];

Pick whichever one you like based on brevity, I guess :-).