UPDATE: Please arrive at 6:45 pm to allow time to check in with security in the lobby. We'll start promptly at 7 pm.

Also, soft drinks and snacks will be available -- big thanks to our hosts, Time Inc.

We're back in 2012 with a special in-depth two part presentation from Robert Clair in January and February on memory management in Objective-C! 

Memory management has always been an important aspect of development in iOS, where device memory is limited and the responsibility of correctly retaining and releasing objects has been the obligation of the developer.  Last year, Apple introduced Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), which has simplified memory management much of the time...except where it doesn't.  As a result, even with ARC in the picture, a full understanding of memory management in Objective-C is more crucial than ever.

Robert will begin Part 1 in January covering memory management from the ground up, starting from malloc and free in C, the stack and the heap, etc. You'll learn how manual reference counting builds on top of this foundation in Objective-C with retain/release.

By the end of Part 2 in February, you'll understand how ARC works in detail, both behind the scenes and in practical terms, and the potential pitfalls of using ARC with blocks, non-ARC files and libraries, and bridging with Core Foundation-style frameworks like Core Graphics.

Presenter bio:
Robert Clair holds a B.A. in Physics from Oberlin College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has more than twenty years experience in commercial software development, working
mainly in CAD, modeling, and graphics. For the last eight years he has worked primarily in Objective-C on the Mac and now on the iPhone. Among other programs, he has written ZeusDraw, a vector drawing program for Mac OS X, and ZeusDraw Mobile, a drawing and painting program for the iPhone. He is the author of Learning Objective-C 2.0: A Hands-On Introduction to Objective-C for Mac and iPhone OS Developers, published by Addison-Wesley. Robert lives in New York City where he is the principal of Chromatic Bytes, LLC, an independent software company.

We'll be at the New York Times (thanks Brad!) in January, and Time Inc. (thanks Stacey and Scott!) in February, so make sure to go to the right place.

For a smooth check in:
-- Make sure your meetup.com settings show your real first AND last name in your RSVP.
-- Bring government photo ID (driver's license or passport) to check in at the event.
-- The meetup starts at 7 pm. Please arrive a little early to allow for check-in time in the building lobby.  Lobby check-in will stay open until about 7:30 pm for latecomers.