dot syntax vs. square bracket syntax

Yeah, it all comes down to personal preference in most cases. People will argue for either side. I personally like square brackets, but sometimes I'll switch to dot syntax for certain things—whichever makes the most sense (to me) in a certain context.

The thing you have to pay attention to is how the names change. In Objective-C classes, your accessor methods read like this:

// Retrieves the text
(NSString *)text {
    return whateverTheTextStringIs;
}

// Sets the text
(void)setText:(NSString *)text {
    whateverTheTextStringIs = text;
}

Of course I'm just making up variable names like "whateverTheTextStringIs." The key idea is that almost all Apple-made classes, such as NSTextLabel, have their methods set up so that calling the variable returns the value of the variable, and calling "set*" (like "setText") is a method to set that variable. But when you use dot syntax, the variable is both retrieved and set by typing the same thing.

Like this:

Getting a variable value

NSString *stringA = self.label.text;

NSString *stringB = [self label] text];

Setting a variable value

self.label.text = nil;

[[self label] setText: nil];

The square brackets are meant to be read more like reading a sentence; the dot syntax is more for convenience and brevity.