What Are Block Objects?

[AdColvin]

I have a reasonable amount of experience with Objective C, but I'm reading the iOS Application Programming Guide at the moment and one of the stated design patterns is the use of block objects.

I've looked at Apple's documentation on block objects, but it seems fairly cryptic to me and I'm having trouble grasping the concept.

Can anybody put the concept into laymen's terms for me?

Of course, with it being a design pattern for iOS, it might be that I've used them before without realising it, or that I've just not come across a need to use them yet.

Any information on what they are and why I might find them useful would be hugely helpful.

Many thanks,
Adam

[ChrisL]

Blocks aren't a design pattern, they're an addition to the language. The same construct is sometimes called 'closures' in other languages. There's a good overview of the concept and syntax here, and a nice article that discusses why they're beneficial on Cocoa for Scientists.