"Reference counting" is a phrase that in Core Foundation refers to an object's "retention count": an internal count of the number of "claims" on the object (with each claim deferring deallocation). Base Services'
CFRetain
function increments the retention count of an object; the
CFRelease
function decrements the current retention count. The
CFGetRetainCount
function returns the current retention count of an object. See Retaining and Releasing Objects for more information on these functions.
For a conceptual summary of reference counting, see "Reference Counting" in the "Overview of Core Foundation" chapter.