why do programmers use configureCell:atIndexPath: method to config the tableView Cell

Question

Well till a couple of days back I use to code everything for UITableViewCell in

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAt         


        

Answer 1

The only time that I've seen a real advantage, readability wise, is when you have multiple cell types. Then you can have separate methods that only know how to populate that particular cell type, like if you had 3 different cell types, for Dogs, Cats and Giraffes:

- (void)configureDogCell:(DogCell *)cell atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
- (void)configureCatCell:(CatCell *)cell atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
- (void)configureGiraffeCell:(GiraffeCell *)cell atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath

That said, I don't use this pattern myself. I've just seen it used by other developers in projects that I've worked on.