Thanks Benny. For refs, I am +1 to represent them as UUID + optional ref, although we can iterate ohe exact JSON structure (e.g., another option is splitting for (UUID) state from (UUID + ref) state into two separate higher-level fields).
Generally agree on REFRESH VIEW strategy could be up to the engine, but it seems like an area where Iceberg could have an opinion/spec on. I will start a separate thread for that. Thanks, Walaa.