Which is faster: using lists in custom state OR a repeating group?

[underhill.dan]

Hi there, I’m trying to work out some speed tests for performing math on a list of stock prices.

I’m downloading historical prices via IEX API which comprise about 300 days of data. For each day (row) I’m performing analysis on each row and then coming up with sum totals of various equations.

I’ve put the data into a RG and then used Expressions in each row to derive the answers I need. I’m also using ListShifter to ITERATE through each line.

QUESTION: do things run faster if I iterate through a list that is stored in a custom state compared to loading it into a repeating group? The repeating group does NOT need to be seen by my users anyway.

Thoughts?

[codecompany]

I would definitely use a Backend Workflow/Schedule API Workflow on a list to loop through the data and store the calculations in a “thing” field/table column. This way the client browser is not involved in anything (like rendering stuff in a repeating group) and generally speaking scripts process stuff much faster on a backend server than in a web browser.

But if Repeating Group and Custom State is the only two options I find it natural to use Custom States. But my guess is that it’s not necessarily faster.