I have a data set that is around 700 rows with eight columns of string data. Is it worth setting up core data? Will I see a huge performance difference if between Core Data and an array?
The app is a simple UITableView and and a couple of drill down style detail views. I will be searching the data set on one of detail views.
It is worth using Core Data if your data set state can change and if the data set is relational: In other words, if columns of data relate to other columns, and if filtering on those columns gives you subsets of data that you want to show in your UI, and if you are updating or changing data in your array, then Core Data has some nice "free" functionality for managing these transactions.
Managing access to a static array will undoubtedly be faster than Core Data, but if it is easier to think about your data in terms of dynamic sets and subsets, then CD will be easier to code and update for.