iOS UITableView: what's the different between “cellForRowAtIndexPath” and “willDisplayCell: forRowAtIndexPath:”

Question

Just as the question\'s title mentions: What\'s the difference between \"cellForRowAtIndexPath\" and \"willDisplayCell: forRowAtIndexPath

Answer 1

cellForRowAtIndexPath should actually return a cell instance. It should be a re-used cell, when possible. This method is required for the UITableViewDataSource Protocol. This is normally where you select the data that will be displayed in the cell. With dynamic cells, it's common to set UI properties such as selected state at the same time you set the data here.

willDisplayCell is optional and is called after. This is your last chance to customize the cell before it's displayed. At this point, the cell instance has already been created. You can change things like selected state, etc. here. You should not be changing the data/structure of the cell or instantiating anything new, but only changing the state of UI properties for the cell. This is commonly used with static cells.