What does "caching" mean in programming?
caching is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
Storing the result of an expensive operation so it can be served quickly on subsequent requests without repeating the work. Caches exist at many levels: browser cache, CDN cache, application cache (Redis, Memcached), and database query cache. The challenge is invalidation: knowing when to expire a cached value.
Example
"We cache the product list in Redis with a 5-minute TTL — without caching, every page load was hitting the database."
Related terms
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