Caching Strategies for Unified APIs

Introduction

In the realm of headless and composable architectures, unified APIs serve as a backbone, allowing disparate services to communicate seamlessly. Caching plays a critical role in enhancing performance and reliability, reducing latency and server load. This lesson explores effective caching strategies for unified APIs.

Key Concepts

• **Caching**: Storing copies of files or results to reduce future access times.
• **Cache Hit**: When a requested data is found in the cache.
• **Cache Miss**: When the requested data is not found, requiring a fetch from the source.
• **TTL (Time to Live)**: The duration for which cached data is considered valid.

Caching Strategies

1. In-Memory Caching

Utilizing in-memory data stores (like Redis or Memcached) can significantly enhance API response times.

const cache = require('memory-cache');

function fetchData(key) {
    const cachedData = cache.get(key);
    if (cachedData) {
        return Promise.resolve(cachedData);
    } else {
        return fetchFromAPI(key).then(data => {
            cache.put(key, data, 60000); // Cache for 60 seconds
            return data;
        });
    }
}
            

2. HTTP Caching

Leverage HTTP headers to cache responses at the client or intermediary proxies.

res.set('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=3600'); // Cache for 1 hour
            

3. CDN Caching

Utilizing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) allows for caching static and dynamic responses closer to users.

Best Practices

• Use consistent cache keys to avoid confusion.
• Implement cache invalidation strategies to ensure data freshness.
• Monitor cache performance and hit/miss ratios regularly.
• Choose appropriate TTL based on data volatility.

FAQ