Multiple Entry Points
As the system matures you will find that entry points can change over time. Where in the beginning a flat comma separated file may have been the initial source of data, this can change format to be XML, JSON or even change type to become a message in a queue or an email.
To accommodate this it is a good idea to separate the entry point from the main flow of a Route and decide upon a common format to share between Routes after the data has entered the system.
For example, you might choose to create POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) to share the data
between Routes and subRoutes as they make the data contained very easy to access. Alternatively
XML or JSON may be chosen. You might decide to pass POJOs between Routes and XML for when you are
passing data to Data Integration jobs. Whatever is decided it should be consistent throughout the
system.