Why Data Design Should Always Come First

Optimize Performance with Smart Frameworks

Alex Maher
4 min readSep 8, 2024
Optimize Performance with Smart Frameworks

Welcome to an exploration of data design within C#. If you’re like me, you’ve been through lots of coding lessons.

But here’s a question for you: why do some apps run fast while others are slow? It could be how the data is set up. Let’s see why data design should be the first thing you do in your C# projects.

The Quiet Engine of Apps

Data might not look cool, but it’s the heart of your app. Imagine building a house. Would you start with the decorations or the frame? Of course, the frame comes first. The same goes for coding. Start with your data structure. Without it, nothing works.

Think about the apps you use every day. Whether it’s a simple text editor like Microsoft Word or a cool game, they all use data. Look at Word, where everything is based on text: paragraphs, bold words, spacing — all these are bits of data.

Games Use Data Too

Guess what? Even games run on data. Think of a chess game. It’s about pieces, their moves, and positions — all data. Now think of a shooting game. What data does it use? Character locations, bullet paths, and damage amounts. Each shot in the game is a lot of data being read in a flash.

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Alex Maher

.NET C# dev with 10+ yrs exp, self-taught & passionate web developer. Sharing tips & experiences in C# and web dev.