Is the statement "By association will always be an in-memory retrieve" true or false?

The correct response indicates that the statement is false. In Mendix, when an association is used to retrieve related data, it does not always imply that the data will be fetched from in-memory storage. Associations can be configured to use different strategies for data retrieval, depending on how the application is designed and the overall context of the data access pattern.

For example, if an entity association is configured with a certain retrieval type or when the context of the association changes (like using a microflow to load specific records), the data may not always be retrieved in-memory. Instead, it could involve querying the database or performing other fetching techniques that don't rely solely on in-memory data.

This highlights the flexibility of Mendix and illustrates that while in-memory retrieval is common for optimizing performance, it is not the only method available. This flexibility is especially important when dealing with larger datasets or complex application logic where efficient data handling is crucial.