Which pattern best optimizes memory for deeply nested Discriminated Unions?

In F# applications utilizing Discriminated Unions (DUs) for complex state management, the precision of domain modeling often leads to deeply nested structures. While this approach ensures compile-time exhaustiveness and eliminates null-reference risks, it can introduce verbosity in pattern matching and potential overhead in memory allocation for low-traffic workloads.

When managing state transitions across multiple layers of nested DUs, there is a trade-off between the strictness of the type system and the complexity of the matching logic required to extract deep values.

• Does the use of Active Patterns significantly reduce the runtime overhead of navigating nested DUs compared to standard nested pattern matching?
• What is the memory footprint impact of using a flattened DU structure versus a nested hierarchy when targeting the .NET runtime?