What cache did you use, tell me more about your caching experience?

In my Java caching experience, I have used several approaches and technologies:

• Ehcache — for local in-memory object caching with configurable TTL and maximum size.
• Redis — as a distributed cache for session storage and frequently requested data, supporting expiration and atomic operations.
• Spring Cache abstraction — to simplify cache integration into services with annotations @Cacheable, @CachePut, and @CacheEvict.

Example of using Spring Cache with Ehcache:

@Service
public class ProductService {

    @Cacheable(value = "products", key = "#id")
    public Product getProductById(Long id) {
        // Expensive operation, e.g., database query
        return productRepository.findById(id).orElse(null);
    }
}

Important points:

• Cache choice depends on scalability and consistency requirements.
• A cache invalidation strategy should be devised to prevent data from becoming stale.
• Caching significantly reduces database load and improves performance.