Unlock Lightning-Fast Performance: Mastering Caching and Cache Validation
Why Caching Matters
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, speed and performance are crucial aspects of any application. One powerful technique for boosting an app’s speed is implementing caching, which stores data for quick access and avoids repetitive, expensive queries or application logic. However, ensuring the data sent from the cache is relevant and up-to-date is equally important, leading us to cache validation.
The Power of Cache Validation
Cache validation can be handled in various ways, including setting a cache expiration time or actively invalidating data at the points where the application data changes. In this article, we’ll explore implementing caching in a simple API application and handling cache validation using MicroDiff, a lightweight JavaScript library that detects object and array differences.
Getting Started
To follow along, make sure you have:
- Git
- Node.js
- A JavaScript package manager (we’ll use Yarn)
- An IDE or text editor of your choice (e.g., Sublime Text or Visual Studio Code)
Setting Up the Project
We’ll extend a previously built simple Express.js API to implement caching and cache validation. First, clone the API application and install the required libraries:
- node-cache for caching
- MicroDiff for cache validation
Caching Application Data
When implementing caching, it’s essential to consider what data should be cached. Focus on caching data that:
- Does not change frequently
- Is frequently fetched/read
- Is derived from complex queries, logic, or external applications
In our cookbook API, the recipes list endpoint is an ideal candidate for caching since users are likely to read through it more frequently than they would add new recipes.
Implementing Caching
Update the cache at the controller once data is retrieved, and create a middleware to check the existence of data in the cache. Where cached data exists, return the data as a response; otherwise, call the controller to retrieve data and save to the cache.
Cache Validation with MicroDiff
Now that we’ve successfully cached our most frequently visited endpoint, it’s crucial to handle cases where recipes are changed or added. We’ll listen to the lowest level point of change to our data by listening to the change Hooks of our Sequelize model. Using MicroDiff, we’ll compare the old cached data to the updated model data, detecting changes and indicating the need to update the cache.
Avoiding Cache Sensitivity
When applying cache to an application, it’s vital to ensure users are served current and valid data. Cache invalidation techniques help ensure our cached data is correct, particularly when the application allows users to write and update data sources. MicroDiff helps avoid unnecessary writes or flashes to our cache by first detecting changes to be updated.
Take Your Application to the Next Level
By mastering caching and cache validation, you can significantly improve your application’s performance and user experience. Explore LogRocket’s Galileo to proactively resolve issues in your app and discover how to optimize your application’s performance with React’s useEffect.
Join the Conversation
Share your experiences with cache validation and caching tricks in the comments below! Are you adding new JS libraries to build new features or improve performance? Learn how LogRocket can help you monitor and optimize your application’s performance.