I read a lot of code, and some of the most common mistakes I see is how people override UIViewController‘s view property.

Here’s how it should be done, in this example we’re replacing UIViewController‘s view property (a UIView) with a UIScrollView:

// ViewController.h
@interface ViewController : UIViewController

@property (strong, nonatomic) UIScrollView *view;

@end

// ViewController.m
@implementation ViewController

@dynamic view;

- (void)loadView {
    self.view = [[UIScrollView alloc] initWithFrame:UIScreen.mainScreen.applicationFrame];
}

@end

Common mistakes include:

• Calling [super loadView], which just wastes resources and Apple’s documentation says not to do.
• Setting the view in -viewDidLoad:, which wastes resources again.
• Not providing both the implementation and type for the view property, and having to cast self.view everywhere

Note, if you use Interface Builder and have an associated XIB file then by default -loadView will take view from the XIB and load it as the UIViewController‘s view. So think of -loadView as doing the job that a XIB would do, e.g. setting up your initial view hierarchy. Any code that wouldn’t change if you were to switch from using -loadView to a XIB should go in -viewDidLoad:.