Hi Joseph,
Does an optimized database perform better than an unoptimized database for db:open? How about for db:list? Or db:retrieve?
It strongly depends on the update operations you perform. The most tangible difference between optimized and updated databases will be that your (non-incremental) index structures get lost [1]. When it comes to pure retrieval of database resources, there should hardly be a difference. In our article on indexes [2], you will see which index structures are affected by update operations.
As for the another process locking the accessed database, is it possible to have multiple, open db connections, within the same JVM.
When talking about open connections, do you use the client/server of BaseX [3]?
Christian
[1] http://docs.basex.org/wiki/XQuery_Update#Indexes [2] http://docs.basex.org/wiki/Indexes [3] http://docs.basex.org/wiki/Startup