---
title: "What is the reuseIdentifier used for?"  
description: "What is the reuseIdentifier used for?"  
author: "Sunil Singh"  
published: 2017-01-02  
updated: 2020-09-24  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/interview/23121/what-is-the-reuseidentifier-used-for  
category: "iphone"  
tags: ["iphone", "ios", "iphone sdk"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# What is the reuseIdentifier used for?

The reuseIdentifier is used to group together similar rows in an UITableView for example rows that differ only in their content, but otherwise have similar layouts.The reuse identifier is associated with a UITableViewCell object that the table-view’s delegate creates with the intent to reuse it as the basis (for performance reasons) for multiple rows of a table view. It is assigned to the cell object in [initWithFrame:reuseIdentifier:](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableviewcell/1623218-initwithframe?language=objc) and cannot be changed thereafter. A [UITableView](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableview) object maintains a queue (or list) of the currently reusable cells, each with its own reuse identifier, and makes them available to the delegate in the [dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier:)](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableview/1614891-dequeuereusablecell) method. [Apple docs for reuseidentifier](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableviewcell/1623246-reuseidentifier).

## Answers

### Answer by Sunil Singh

The reuseIdentifier is used to group together similar rows in an UITableView for example rows that differ only in their content, but otherwise have similar layouts.The reuse identifier is associated with a UITableViewCell object that the table-view’s delegate creates with the intent to reuse it as the basis (for performance reasons) for multiple rows of a table view. It is assigned to the cell object in [initWithFrame:reuseIdentifier:](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableviewcell/1623218-initwithframe?language=objc) and cannot be changed thereafter. A [UITableView](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableview) object maintains a queue (or list) of the currently reusable cells, each with its own reuse identifier, and makes them available to the delegate in the [dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier:)](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableview/1614891-dequeuereusablecell) method. [Apple docs for reuseidentifier](https://developer.apple.com/reference/uikit/uitableviewcell/1623246-reuseidentifier).


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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/interview/23121/what-is-the-reuseidentifier-used-for

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