toll-free bridging

There are a number of data types in the Core Foundation framework and the Foundation framework that can be used interchangeably. This capability, called toll-free bridging, means that you can use the same data type as the parameter to a Core Foundation function call or as the receiver of an Objective-C message. For example, NSLocale (see NSLocale Class Reference) is interchangeable with its Core Foundation counterpart, CFLocale (see CFLocale Reference). Therefore, in a method where you see an NSLocale * parameter, you can pass a CFLocaleRef, and in a function where you see a CFLocaleRef parameter, you can pass an NSLocale instance. You cast one type to the other to suppress compiler warnings, as illustrated in the following example.

Data types that can be used interchangeably between Core Foundation and Foundation 

Core Foundation type

Foundation class

Availability

CFArrayRef

NSArray

OS X v10.0

CFAttributedStringRef

NSAttributedString

OS X v10.4

CFCalendarRef

NSCalendar

OS X v10.4

CFCharacterSetRef

NSCharacterSet

OS X v10.0

CFDataRef

NSData

OS X v10.0

CFDateRef

NSDate

OS X v10.0

CFDictionaryRef

NSDictionary

OS X v10.0

CFErrorRef

NSError

OS X v10.5

CFLocaleRef

NSLocale

OS X v10.4

CFMutableArrayRef

NSMutableArray

OS X v10.0

CFMutableAttributedStringRef

NSMutableAttributedString

OS X v10.4

CFMutableCharacterSetRef

NSMutableCharacterSet

OS X v10.0

CFMutableDataRef

NSMutableData

OS X v10.0

CFMutableDictionaryRef

NSMutableDictionary

OS X v10.0

CFMutableSetRef

NSMutableSet

OS X v10.0

CFMutableStringRef

NSMutableString

OS X v10.0

CFNumberRef

NSNumber

OS X v10.0

CFReadStreamRef

NSInputStream

OS X v10.0

CFRunLoopTimerRef

NSTimer

OS X v10.0

CFSetRef

NSSet

OS X v10.0

CFStringRef

NSString

OS X v10.0

CFTimeZoneRef

NSTimeZone

OS X v10.0

CFURLRef

NSURL

OS X v10.0

CFWriteStreamRef

NSOutputStream

OS X v10.0