dataset in a class performance question

Question

Performance-wise: i have a class in my app. that holds a dataset and functions to access the dataset and obtain different data is it better: 1) to have the dataset recreated each time a class is called to access a method on the data -or- 2) to somehow have the class remain in memory throughout program execution. if 2), then what would be the procedure for making the class stay instantiated in memory? thanks in advance Pete McNamee [email protected]