NSNumber primitive value equality vs isEqualToNumber with Obj-C Literals

Question

Now that we have NSNumber literals with compiler support in Objective-C, is there a preferred way to compare an NSNumber to a known integer value?

The old way is [myNumber integerValue] == 5

Now we can do [myNumber isEqualToNumber:@5] or even [myNumber isEqualToNumber:@(someVariable)].

Is there an advantage to the isEqualToNumber: method, or should we stick with integerValue unless the value to compare to is already an NSNumber?

One advantage I can see is if someVariable changes from an NSInteger to a CGFloat, no code changes will be needed for the new way.

Answer 1

The new way is really a new syntax around the old

[myNumber isEqualToNumber:[NSNumber numberWithInt:5]]

which requires an extra call of numberWithInt:; essentially, we're comparing a solution with a single dispatch and zero allocations to a solution with two dispatches, and possibly an allocation/deallocation.

If you do this comparison outside a tight loop, it wouldn't matter. But if you do it in a really tight loop, perhaps while drawing something, you may see a slowndown. That's why I'd stay with the old method of

[myNumber integerValue] == 5