Concise description of how .h and .m files interact in objective c?
- by RJ86
I have just started learning objective C and am really confused how the .h and .m files interact with each other. This simple program has 3 files:
Fraction.h
#import <Foundation/NSObject.h>
@interface Fraction : NSObject {
int numerator;
int denominator;
}
- (void) print;
- (void) setNumerator: (int) n;
- (void) setDenominator: (int) d;
- (int) numerator;
- (int) denominator;
@end
Fraction.m
#import "Fraction.h"
#import <stdio.h>
@implementation Fraction
-(void) print { printf( "%i/%i", numerator, denominator ); }
-(void) setNumerator: (int) n { numerator = n; }
-(void) setDenominator: (int) d { denominator = d; }
-(int) denominator { return denominator; }
-(int) numerator { return numerator; }
@end
Main.m
#import <stdio.h>
#import "Fraction.h"
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
Fraction *frac = [[Fraction alloc] init];
[frac setNumerator: 1];
[frac setDenominator: 3];
printf( "The fraction is: " );
[frac print];
printf( "\n" );
[frac release];
return 0;
}
From what I understand, the program initially starts running the main.m file. I understand the basic C concepts but this whole "class" and "instance" stuff is really confusing. In the Fraction.h file the @interface is defining numerator and denominator as an integer, but what else is it doing below with the (void)? and what is the purpose of re-defining below? I am also quite confused as to what is happening with the (void) and (int) portions of the Fraction.m and how all of this is brought together in the main.m file. I guess what I am trying to say is that this seems like a fairly easy program to learn how the different portions work with each other - could anyone explain in non-tech jargon?
