Which is better for a MacBook, shutting it down or putting it to sleep?

I been researching the question for a while now and have not found an informed answer yet:
Is it "better" for my MacBook to be shut down over periods of inactivity or to be put to sleep? (with a period of inactivity being 6 hours or more)
Which option saves more battery life (if either)?
Which option saves the life of my MacBook (if either)?
-Thanks.

The Macbook, Macbook Pro and other Apple portable systems are designed for a very robust uptime. You shouldn't need to reboot your machine except for battery maintenance (drain the battery about once a month), and when applications or hardware components misbehave. With that thought in mind, I would put the computer to sleep rather than shut it down--the exception might be when the period of inactivity runs to several days or more.

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