> The 10 Longest Symbol Names in Apple's Frameworks

Objective-C developers have a reputation for verbosity. Where a C++ developer might write getX(), we write initWithBitmapDataPlanes:pixelsWide:pixelsHigh:bitsPerSample:.... Apple's Naming Methods guidelines even encourage this: "Clarity is more important than brevity."

Some engineers took that guidance very seriously. Here are some impressively long symbols hiding in Apple's frameworks—all verified in current documentation.

10. Collection View Gets Specific (55 characters)

collectionView:layout:insetForSectionAtIndex:

The UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout protocol asks the delegate for margins to apply to content in a specified section. Every word is necessary—which collection view, which layout, what kind of inset, and for which section.

9. Status Bar Orientation Alert (55 characters)

UIApplicationWillChangeStatusBarOrientationNotification

This notification posts when the app is about to change the orientation of its interface. The name tells you exactly when it fires without consulting docs.

8. Interitem Spacing Negotiations (57 characters)

collectionView:layout:minimumInteritemSpacingForSectionAtIndex:

Another UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout gem. This one asks for the spacing between successive items in the rows or columns of a section. Can't just say "spacing"—we need to specify minimum, interitem (not line), and which section.

7. Core Data Syncs with iCloud (62 characters)

NSPersistentStoreDidImportUbiquitousContentChangesNotification

This Core Data notification fires when your persistent store imports changes from iCloud. "Ubiquitous" is Apple's internal term for iCloud syncing, adding precious characters to an already descriptive name.

6. Accessibility Gets Parametric (62 characters)

NSAccessibilityLayoutPointForScreenPointParameterizedAttribute

The NSAccessibility framework needs to convert screen coordinates to layout coordinates for assistive technologies. The attribute name encodes exactly what transformation it performs.

5. AVCapture Delegates Verbosely (45 characters for class + method)

The protocol name alone is a mouthful:

AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate

And its main method captureOutput:didOutputSampleBuffer:fromConnection: isn't shy either. When you're capturing video data and outputting sample buffers, the name ensures you know exactly what kind of delegate you're implementing.

4. SceneKit Prepares Everything (35 characters, but the context matters)

prepareObjects:withCompletionHandler:

This SCNSceneRenderer method prepares SceneKit objects for rendering on a background thread. The method itself is modest, but the protocol SCNSceneRenderer and typical usage create impressively long call sites.

3. HealthKit Tracks Your Climbs (129 characters for the full selector)

workoutWithActivityType:startDate:endDate:workoutEvents:totalEnergyBurned:totalDistance:totalFlightsClimbed:device:metadata:

This HKWorkout factory method instantiates a workout that tracks everything—activity type, timestamps, events, calories, distance, flights climbed, the device, and metadata. Medical precision demands exhaustive parameters.

2. The Bitmap Behemoth (168 characters)

initWithBitmapDataPlanes:pixelsWide:pixelsHigh:bitsPerSample:samplesPerPixel:hasAlpha:isPlanar:colorSpaceName:bitmapFormat:bytesPerRow:bitsPerPixel:

The NSBitmapImageRep initializer wins for sheer parameter count. Eleven colons. Eleven distinct pieces of information needed to properly initialize a bitmap image representation. Miss one, and your image renders incorrectly.

1. The Champion (168+ characters in practice)

When you combine protocol names with method signatures, the winners emerge. Imagine implementing:

-[MyClass collectionView:layout:minimumInteritemSpacingForSectionAtIndex:]

Or conforming to AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate and implementing captureOutput:didOutputSampleBuffer:fromConnection: with proper nil checks and dispatch queues.

The true champions are the Objective-C developers who type these without autocomplete.

The Philosophy

Is this a problem? Apple's API Design Guidelines explicitly prefer descriptive names. When someone reads initWithBitmapDataPlanes:pixelsWide:pixelsHigh:..., they know exactly what parameters to provide without checking documentation.

Compare to a hypothetical abbreviated version: initWithPlanes:w:h:bps:spp:.... Shorter, but now you need docs to know what bps means.

The verbose style is self-documenting code taken to its logical conclusion. Whether that conclusion is admirable or absurd depends on your tolerance for horizontal scrolling.

At least we have autocomplete. May your symbol names be descriptive, your completion suggestions be fast, and your stack traces be printable on standard paper widths.