I’m developing an application using Flas Builder / Flex for Adobe Air. This application will be processing a large set of static text (100 – 200 MB) using a variable set of processing instructions. The target platforms will be iOS, Android and Desktop.
The data set can be either one large XML file or broken into a bunch of XML files about 3MB each. This will be decided at design time.
From your experience would it be better to store the text in an Adode Air database or a set of XML files for best performance (including speed and battery life)?
What other considerations should I take into account?
I quote one of my favourite bookmarks:
There are several different methods for persisting data in AIR applications:
Each of these methods has its own set of advantages and disadvantages (an explanation of which is beyond the scope of this article). One of the advantages of using a SQL database is that it helps to keep your application’s memory footprint down, rather than loading a lot of data into memory from flat files. For example, if you store your application’s data in a database, you can select only what you need, when you need it, then easily remove the data from memory when you’re finished with it.
Source: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/articles/10_tips_building_on_air.html
I don’t understand one thing: is EVERY file 100-200 Mb in size? Or this is the total size of ALL your files?