Reviewing the rules for embedding structures
By now, we understand both references and nested/embedded structures at a conceptual level. It is important to also know the rules for using nested structures compared to references. It is to be noted that these rules represent best practices and can change depending on the context:
- The embedded structure is not going to change anytime in the near future.
- There is a containment relationship between structures.
- There are one-to-few relationships between structures.
- The data that is embedded does not change frequently.
- The embedded data is needed frequently along with the parent structure.
- The embedded data will not grow out of bounds.
Let's understand each of these rules in detail.
Data cohesion
If the data from multiple structures is read together, it is wise to put it together as well such that it can be read in a single step. Otherwise, the application must invoke multiple calls to different...
