Explain the paths in the association network
We can analyze use of paths in the association network as given below:
- Calculate each operation
- Find associations which it must pass through to get information. Associations could be bi-directional (generally by more than one operation) or unidirectional which can be implemented as pointers.
For each and every operation, we must know the followings:
- How frequently is operation needed and how much will it cost?
- What is fan-out along a path through network? To find fan-out of complete path, multiply average count of each "many" associations found in path with individual fan-outs.
- What are the objects which satisfy selection criteria (if specified) and are operated on? When most of objects are rejected during traversal for some reason, then a simple nested loop can be inefficient at finding target objects.