Objective-C : BOOL vs bool

user_65500 0
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I saw the "new type" BOOL (YES, NO).

I read that this type is almost like a char.

For testing I did :

NSLog(@"Size of BOOL %d", sizeof(BOOL));
NSLog(@"Size of bool %d", sizeof(bool));

Good to see that both logs display "1" (sometimes in C++ bool is an int and its sizeof is 4)

So I was just wondering if there were some issues with the bool type or something ?

Can I just use bool (that seems to work) without losing speed?

objective-c boolean c types
10 Answers

From the definition in objc.h:

#if (TARGET_OS_IPHONE && __LP64__)  ||  TARGET_OS_WATCH
typedef bool BOOL;
#else
typedef signed char BOOL; 
// BOOL is explicitly signed so @encode(BOOL) == "c" rather than "C" 
// even if -funsigned-char is used.
#endif

#define YES ((BOOL)1)
#define NO  ((BOOL)0)

So, yes, you can assume that BOOL is a char. You can use the (C99) bool type, but all of Apple's Objective-C frameworks and most Objective-C/Cocoa code uses BOOL, so you'll save yourself headache if the typedef ever changes by just using BOOL.

Barry_Wark_21400

The Objective-C type you should use is BOOL. There is nothing like a native boolean datatype, therefore to be sure that the code compiles on all compilers use BOOL. (It's defined in the Apple-Frameworks.

user_245870

Yup, BOOL is a typedef for a signed char according to objc.h.

I don't know about bool, though. That's a C++ thing, right? If it's defined as a signed char where 1 is YES/true and 0 is NO/false, then I imagine it doesn't matter which one you use.

Since BOOL is part of Objective-C, though, it probably makes more sense to use a BOOL for clarity (other Objective-C developers might be puzzled if they see a bool in use).

Jeff_547420

Also, be aware of differences in casting, especially when working with bitmasks, due to casting to signed char:

bool a = 0x0100;
a == true;  // expression true

BOOL b = 0x0100;
b == false; // expression true on !((TARGET_OS_IPHONE && __LP64__) || TARGET_OS_WATCH), e.g. MacOS
b == true;  // expression true on (TARGET_OS_IPHONE && __LP64__) || TARGET_OS_WATCH

If BOOL is a signed char instead of a bool, the cast of 0x0100 to BOOL simply drops the set bit, and the resulting value is 0.

user_45109870
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