Cache Strategies
Cache strategies are systematic approaches for storing and retrieving frequently accessed data in a temporary storage layer (cache) to improve application performance and reduce load on primary data sources. They define rules for cache population, invalidation, and eviction to ensure data consistency and efficiency. Common strategies include write-through, write-around, write-back, and cache-aside, each tailored to specific use cases and trade-offs between performance and data integrity.
Developers should learn cache strategies to optimize high-traffic applications, such as web services, databases, and APIs, where reducing latency and database load is critical. For example, in e-commerce platforms, using cache-aside for product listings can speed up page loads, while write-through caching ensures real-time inventory updates. Understanding these strategies helps balance performance gains with data consistency requirements in distributed systems.