Lazy initialization
Lazy initialization is a technique that postpones creating, retrieving, computing, or loading a value or resource until it is needed.
Machine Learning Platform Engineering
Lazy initialization is a pattern that postpones expensive resource creation or setup until the resource is first needed.
- How it is used
- Defers expensive RAG resource setup while allowing a reusable service object to be created quickly.
- How deep it goes
- Works through asynchronous setup and readiness checks, without detailing resource-loading internals.
- Examples
- Uses a RAG class that loads a FAISS index and initializes a Gemini model when a Chainlit chat starts.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as an asynchronously initialized RAG component with a guard against premature queries.
Read how Machine Learning Platform Engineering explains lazy initialization →
Python How-To
A lazy attribute is an attribute whose value is computed only when the attribute is accessed rather than when its object is initialized.
- How it is used
- Defers expensive per-object data loading until that data is requested.
- How deep it goes
- Works through two caching implementations and explains the simplified __dict__ and __getattr__ fallback; does not detail the full attribute-resolution order.
- Examples
- Shows followers whose remote profiles are fetched on first access, then reused on a second access.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch using a cached property or __getattr__, preferring the explicit property approach.
C++ Concurrency in Action, Second Edition
Lazy initialization is a technique that delays constructing or initializing a resource until it is first required.
- How it is used
- Delays constructing an expensive shared resource until needed while addressing safe initialization across threads.
- How deep it goes
- Compares mutex protection, double-checked locking, and std::call_once, while deferring full memory-model treatment.
- Examples
- Uses an expensive resource, a shared_ptr to some_resource, and a class connection as examples.
- What you can do after
- Apply std::call_once with std::once_flag to initialize a shared resource or class connection before use.
Read how C++ Concurrency in Action, Second Edition explains lazy initialization →
Related concepts
- eager loadingcontrasts with · Eager loading is a data-loading strategy that retrieves required data before it is requested individually, often fetching related data together with its primary entity.
- N + 1 query problemproduces · The N+1 query problem is an inefficient data-access pattern in which an initial query retrieves a collection and a separate additional query retrieves related data for each item.
- Singleton patternused by · The Singleton pattern restricts a type or component to one shared instance within a defined scope and provides a way to access it.
- Angular moduleuses · An Angular module is an NgModule-based application unit that groups and configures declarations, imports, providers, and exports.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.