Appropriate data structures for large item database

Question

I'm currently building an RPG Game and as such I intend to have a lot of items. In my current system I have a database of items stored in a JSON file which I read and then store the items in a generic List<>. My question is as the numbers of items grow should I be looking into using a better data structure to store my database? As I wonder if i'll be able to search the list in an appropriate time when there's potentially thousands of items.

Answer 1

In terms of performance, it probably isn't a problem until you have a few thousand items (which you say you may have).

As per the data-structure to keep them in memory, you should consider how you use it. In particular: Do you iterate over it? Do you search by some criteria? Do you insert or remove often?

Since you mention searching, you may consider to use Dictionary<TKey, TValue> or even Dictionary<TKey, List<TValue>> to serve as indexes to access the items you need.

Going forward, there is nothing wrong with choosing a database engine for your game. I'd suggest to give a look to SQLite.