Question

I am not a fan of the following construction

    if (self = [super init])
{
 //do something with self assuming it has been created
}

Is the following equivalent?

self = [super init];

if (self != nil)
{
 //Do something with Self
 }

Answer 1

Yes they are. The = operator returns the value.

Answer 2

You may also wish to refer to Wil Shipley s take on this in his "self = [stupid init];" post. He originally recommended

- (id)init;
{
 if (![super init])
   return nil;

 [...initialize my stuff...]
 return self;
}

but demonstrates a handful of cases where this may fail currently and may not work with some future changes by Apple. He now recommends

- (id)init;
{
 if (!(self = [super init]))
   return nil;

 // other stuff
 return self;
}

Answer 3

Lars D has your answer, but if you are looking for a way to clean up your init methods, I prefer the following:

- (id)init
{
    if ((self = [super init]) == nil) { return nil; }

    // your logic

    return self;
}

It crams all of the unpleasantness into one line, and it leaves the rest of your method free of one if statement (and associated parentheses).