Performance will be better using CSOM or REST API to retrieve data from 4 lists simultaneously.?

Question

I am developing Sharepoint hosted app, and there is a situation where i need to get the data from 4 lists simultaneously, then use it later on. I am able to do it using CSOM. But performance wise what will be better CSOM or REST API. If rest API is the better approach then how can i do it.?

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 20 '16 at 22:24

My approach for SharePoint-hosted add-in is to use

a. REST API when requesting:

Single Element / Single Collection retrieval (single List, single ListColletion, single ListItem, single ListItemCollection, single Field, single FieldCollection etc.)
Large Datasets
Two things to consider when using REST API:
i. I do prefer using sp.RequestExecutor.js to executeQueryAsync over $Ajax calls. Reason #1: developing addins that interacts with other Site Collections or sibling webs. Reason #2: your X-RequestDigest header is resolved natively.
ii. Choose wisely your odata value in the Accept: application/json; odata=? header. odata=verbose is, well, verbose, meaning that it returns A LOT of generally unuseful metadata information that slow down responses. odata=mininalmetadata is a good choice for when you need a single metadatata information. odata=nometadata is what you generally need. Note that the object returned varies. While in verbose mode: obj.body.d.results. For the two other methods, obj.body.value