Big Hashtable or big Assembly Resource File?

[Dennis Myrén]

Hi.

I would need an advice here please.

I have to define a set of constant key/value pairs for my C# .NET DLL
component.
We are talking about at least 5000 pairs
(where each key is a System.String and the corresponding value preferably is
a System.Byte [0x4] )

These pairs will only have to load at special occasions.

What would you think is the best approach, using a big static
System.Collections.Hashtable
loaded as needed, or using an Assembly Resource File loaded as needed?
Or perhaps there is another way? I can't think of any.

I am seeking the best way in a performance/efficiency point of view.

Thank you, Dennis

[Frans Bouma [C# MVP]]

"Dennis Myrén" <de****@oslokb.no> wrote in
news:MN******************@news2.e.nsc.no:

I have to define a set of constant key/value pairs for my C# .NET DLL
component.
We are talking about at least 5000 pairs
(where each key is a System.String and the corresponding value
preferably is a System.Byte [0x4] )

These pairs will only have to load at special occasions.

What would you think is the best approach, using a big static
System.Collections.Hashtable
loaded as needed, or using an Assembly Resource File loaded as needed?
Or perhaps there is another way? I can't think of any.

I am seeking the best way in a performance/efficiency point of view.

A hashtable is definitely the fastest. It doesn't matter in memory
usage that much, as with both you have to construct the complete datastore
for a single entry. The hashtable takes some time to setup, especially
with a lot of entries (so set the initial size correctly!), where a
resource file is loaded immediately (or is even compiled into the
assembly). However once the hashtable is setup, stringsearches are very
fast, much faster than the linear search in a resource.

FB

--
Get LLBLGen Pro, the new O/R mapper for .NET: http://www.llblgen.com
My .NET Blog: http://weblogs.asp.net/fbouma
Microsoft C# MVP

[Dennis Myrén]

Thank you!
"Frans Bouma [C# MVP]" <pe******************@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:Xn*********************************@207.46.24 8.16...

"Dennis Myrén" <de****@oslokb.no> wrote in
news:MN******************@news2.e.nsc.no:

I have to define a set of constant key/value pairs for my C# .NET DLL
component.
We are talking about at least 5000 pairs
(where each key is a System.String and the corresponding value
preferably is a System.Byte [0x4] )

These pairs will only have to load at special occasions.

What would you think is the best approach, using a big static
System.Collections.Hashtable
loaded as needed, or using an Assembly Resource File loaded as needed?
Or perhaps there is another way? I can't think of any.

I am seeking the best way in a performance/efficiency point of view.

A hashtable is definitely the fastest. It doesn't matter in memory
usage that much, as with both you have to construct the complete datastore
for a single entry. The hashtable takes some time to setup, especially
with a lot of entries (so set the initial size correctly!), where a
resource file is loaded immediately (or is even compiled into the
assembly). However once the hashtable is setup, stringsearches are very
fast, much faster than the linear search in a resource.

FB

--
Get LLBLGen Pro, the new O/R mapper for .NET: http://www.llblgen.com
My .NET Blog: http://weblogs.asp.net/fbouma
Microsoft C# MVP