All You Need to Know About Caching in Ruby on Rails Applications

Caching is an essential feature in Ruby on Rails applications that helps improve the performance of web applications. Caching helps reduce server load by storing frequently accessed data in memory, so that subsequent requests can retrieve the data from memory instead of querying the database each time.

Types of Caching in Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails provides three kinds of caching techniques:

• Page Caching: Pages are cached as static files by the web server for faster retrieval. This technique is only suitable for pages that don't contain user-specific data.
• Action Caching: Caches the output of an action method in the form of fragments. This technique is suitable for pages that contain user-specific data since it can be cached with a key that corresponds to the user's session.
• Fragment Caching: Caches the output of a specific block that is part of a rendered view.

How to Implement Caching in Ruby on Rails Applications

To implement caching in a Ruby on Rails application, you need to use the cache helpers provided by Rails. These helpers enable you to specify which content should be cached, how long the content should be cached, and where it should be cached.

To enable caching in your application, you need to update the config/application.rb file to include the below line of code:

config.cache_store = :mem_cache_store

This line of code specifies that we are using the mem_cache_store as the cache store.

Once caching has been enabled, you can then use the cache helpers in your views to specify which parts of the page to cache. For example:

<% cache @products do %>
  <div class="products">
    <% @products.each do |product| %>
      <div class="product">
        <%= product.name %>
      </div>
    <% end %>
  </div>
<% end %>

This code caches the products for a specified amount of time. If a request is made for the same products within the caching time period, the application retrieves the cached version, rather than querying the database.

Conclusion

By caching your Ruby on Rails application, you can speed up your web application and improve overall performance. We have looked at the types of caching available in Ruby on Rails and how to implement caching in your application using the cache helpers provided by Rails. By applying caching, you can provide a faster and more reliable web application for your users.