Singleton

A singleton class returns the same instance no matter how many times an application
requests it. A typical class permits callers to create as many instances of the class as they
want, whereas with a singleton class, there can be only one instance of the class per
process. A singleton object provides a global point of access to the resources of its class.
Singletons are used in situations where this single point of control is desirable, such as with
classes that offer some general service or resource.

You obtain the global instance from a singleton class through a factory method. The class
lazily creates its sole instance the first time it is requested and thereafter ensures that no
other instance can be created. A singleton class also prevents callers from copying,
retaining, or releasing the instance. You may create your own singleton classes if you find
the need for them. For example, if you have a class that provides sounds to other objects in
an application, you might make it a singleton.

Several Cocoa framework classes are singletons. They

include NSFileManager, NSWorkspace, and, in UIKit, UIApplication and UIAccelerometer.
The name of the factory method returning the singleton instance has, by convention, the
form sharedClassType. Examples from the Cocoa frameworks
are sharedFileManager, sharedColorPanel, and sharedWorkspace.