> Any reason we only use the kernel diff for big child node lists? Initially KernelNodeState didn't use MK.diff() at all and would always fall back to the generic implementation in AbstractNodeState. To improve performance and reduce memory usage for flat hierarchies we then introduced the use of MK.diff(). see: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OAK-643
it might indeed be better to ask the MK for the diff earlier and avoid the comparison of unmodified child nodes. Regards Marcel
