Identity Map Pattern

In the design of database management systems, the identity map pattern is a database access design pattern used to improve performance by providing a context-specific, in-memory cache to prevent duplicate retrieval of the same object data from the database.

If the requested data has already been loaded from the database, the identity map returns the same instance of the already instantiated object, but if it has not been loaded yet, it loads it and stores the new object in the map. In this way, it follows a similar principle to lazy loading.

There are four types of Identity Map

  • Explicit
  • Generic
  • Session
  • Class

Famous quotes containing the words identity, map and/or pattern:

    The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate ambiguity and not be driven by fear into a rigid, single-solution approach to problems, who are rational, foresightful and who look for facts; who can draw inferences and can control their behavior in the light of foreseen consequences, who are altruistic and enjoy doing for others, and who understand social forces and trends.
    Robert Havighurst (20th century)

    A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    It may be tempting to focus on the fact that, even among those who support equality, men’s involvement as fathers remains a far distance from what most women want and most children need. Yet it is also important to acknowledge how far and how fast many men have moved towards a pattern that not long ago virtually all men considered anathema.
    Katherine Gerson (20th century)