data structure best practices for UITableView datasource

Question

I am trying to figure out whats the best data structure to hold the data source for a UITableView. I am looking for something as robust as possible - a structure that will hold data for the different sections, and which will enable convenient add and remove of objects. I saw a few implementations using NSMutableArrays and dictionaries, but I am still not convinced as to which approach is the most robust.

Appreciate your help and thoughts.

Answer 1

NSMutableArray is the most efficient since the index path for row and section readily convert to integers which can be used to access the array elements.

Answer 2

Depends on really how complex your data is. If its just couple of strings then an Array of NSStrings will suffice. If its like an image path, a text label and its description then maybe an array of custom class holding that data. I almost always go for the Arrays since you can get your desired object from it with the objectAtIndex:indexPath.row bit.