How Structure Impacts Performance

Three attributes of the construction of an application can be considered as “structure.” The first of these is the build structure, such as how the source code is distributed between the source files. The second structure is how the source files are combined into applications and supporting libraries. Finally, and probably the most obvious, is that way data is organized in the application. How these three structures influence performance is the subject of the following sections.

Performance and Convenience Trade-Offs in Source Code and Build Structures

The structure of the source code for an application can cause differences to its performance. Source code is often distributed across source files for the convenience of the developers. It is appropriate that the developers’ convenience is one of the main criteria for structuring the sources, but care needs to be taken that it does not cause inconvenience to the user of an application.