If Objective-C fits your definition of statically typed OO language, then I believe you can return whatever you want in the -(id)init constructor. The common i

If Objective-C fits your definition of statically typed OO language, then I believe you can return whatever you want in the -(id)init constructor. The common idiom for implementing constructors in subclasses is to do "self = [super init]; if (self) { ... subclass constructor impl ... }; return self". Setting self to nil is a common use-case.