Dividing a dataset into smaller, manageable groups is a fundamental technique in data processing and analysis. Each of these smaller groups, known as subsets, facilitates efficient computation and often optimizes the performance of analytical models. A practical illustration of this process involves taking a large collection of customer transaction records and separating them into smaller sets, each representing a specific time period or customer segment.
The practice of creating these data subsets offers several key advantages. Primarily, it allows for parallel processing, where multiple subsets are analyzed simultaneously, significantly reducing processing time. Furthermore, it can mitigate memory constraints when dealing with exceptionally large datasets that exceed available system resources. Historically, this approach has been crucial in fields like statistical modeling and machine learning, enabling analysis that would otherwise be computationally infeasible.