title: xml parsing / querying performance question for asp.net
body: <p>I have to port a smaller windows forms application (product configurator) to an asp.net app which will be used on a large company's website, demand should be moderate because it's for a specialized product line. </p>
  
  <p>I don't have access to a database and using XML is a requirement from their web developers.</p>
  
  <p>There are roughly 30 different products with roughly 300 different possible configurations stored in the xml files, and linked questions / answers that lead to a product recommendation. Also some production options. The app is available in 6 languages.</p>
  
  <p>How would you solve the 'data access' layer, if you could call it this way? I thought of  reading / deserializing the xml files into their objects and store them in asp.net's cache if they're not there already and then read from the cache on subsequent requests. But that would mean all objects live in the memory all day and night.</p>
  
  <p>Is that even necessary, or smart, performance wise? As I said before, the app is not that big, the xml files not that large. Could I just create some Repository class that reads the xml files whenever an object is requested (ie. 'Product Details', or 'Next question') and returns it that way, and drive memory consumption down?</p>