iphone - error: expected specifier-qualifier-list before...in Objective C?

Question

Whenever I build the following code, I get the error above.

//Controller.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import "PolygonShape.h"
#import "PolygonView.h";

@interface Controller : NSObject
{
    IBOutlet UIButton *decreaseButton;
    IBOutlet UIButton *increaseButton;
    IBOutlet UILabel *numberOfSidesLabel;
    IBOutlet PolygonShape *shape;
    IBOutlet PolygonView *shapeView;
}
- (IBAction)decrease;
- (IBAction)increase;
- (void)awakeFromNib;
@end


//Controller.m
#import "Controller.h"


@implementation Controller
@end    

However, when I replace the import statement and put a forward class reference instead, the code compiles.

//Controller.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import "PolygonShape.h"
@class PolygonView;

@interface Controller : NSObject
{
    IBOutlet UIButton *decreaseButton;
    IBOutlet UIButton *increaseButton;
    IBOutlet UILabel *numberOfSidesLabel;
    IBOutlet PolygonShape *shape;
    IBOutlet PolygonView *shapeView;
}
- (IBAction)decrease;
- (IBAction)increase;
- (void)awakeFromNib;
@end

//Controller.m
#import "Controller.h"
#import "PolygonView.h"

@implementation Controller
@end

Can anyone explain?

Answer 1

Yes, I too had this problem of Cyclical Dependencies where I was importing both classes in each other. I also didn't know what Forward Declarations were. I promptly searched it on Wikipedia but it was poorly described. I found this post that explains what they are and how they relate to cyclical imports. http://timburrell.net/blog/2008-11-23/effective-c-cyclical-dependencies/

Note: The link keeps going down so I just PDF'd it.