Boosting Performance in Your .NET Core Application with Caching

Introduction

In today’s world, users expect fast and responsive web applications. As a .NET Core developer, one of the ways to meet these expectations is to implement caching in your application. Caching can significantly improve the performance of your application by reducing the time it takes to retrieve data from external sources. In this blog post, we’ll explore the basics of caching in .NET Core and how to implement it in your application.

.NET Core Application with Caching

Caching is the process of storing frequently used data in memory or a fast storage system, so it can be quickly retrieved and used. This can help to reduce the amount of time it takes to retrieve data from external sources such as a database or a web service. Caching is an effective way to improve the performance of your .NET Core application, especially when dealing with data that is frequently accessed or slow to retrieve.

In .NET Core, caching can be implemented using the built-in caching middleware provided by the Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory package. This middleware provides an in-memory cache that can be easily integrated into your application.

To implement caching in your .NET Core application, you can follow these steps:

1. Install the Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory package using the NuGet Package Manager.
2. In your Startup.cs file, add the following code to the ConfigureServices method:

services.AddMemoryCache();

This registers the caching middleware in the application’s dependency injection container.

3. In your controller or service class, inject the IMemoryCache interface and use it to cache data.

using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory;

public class MyController : Controller
{
    private readonly IMemoryCache _memoryCache;

    public MyController(IMemoryCache memoryCache)
    {
        _memoryCache = memoryCache;
    }

    public IActionResult MyAction()
    {
        string cacheKey = "myCacheKey";
        string cachedData;

        if (!_memoryCache.TryGetValue(cacheKey, out cachedData))
        {
            // If the data is not in the cache, retrieve it and add it to the cache
            cachedData = GetDataFromDatabase();
            var cacheEntryOptions = new MemoryCacheEntryOptions()
                .SetSlidingExpiration(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(30));
            _memoryCache.Set(cacheKey, cachedData, cacheEntryOptions);
        }

        // Use the cached data
        return Ok(cachedData);
    }

    private string GetDataFromDatabase()
    {
        // Code to retrieve data from the database
    }
}

In this example, the MyAction method checks if the data is already in the cache using the TryGetValue method. If the data is not in the cache, it retrieves it from the database and adds it to the cache using the Set method. The SetSlidingExpiration method sets the cache entry to expire after 30 minutes of inactivity.

By implementing caching in your .NET Core application, you can significantly improve its performance and responsiveness, which can lead to a better user experience. However, it’s important to use caching appropriately and avoid over-caching, which can cause memory usage issues or stale data. With careful consideration and testing, caching can be a powerful tool in your .NET Core development toolbox.

DEMO

Check out other topics that might interest you.

• Securing Your ASP.NET Core Web API: How to Remove Server Headers
• Upload Files and Model Data with Angular and .NET Core Web API to Single Endpoint
• How to Remove Server from Response Header for ASP.NET Core Web API on IIS 8 and 10
• How to solve Http Error 500.19 Internal Server Error in windows server IIS for Dotnet Core application

Sample App

Essential Product API – DOTNET CORE WEB API project using version 3.1. You can also use.Net 6 or above

Conclusion

Caching is a powerful technique for improving the performance of your .NET Core application. By implementing caching using the built-in caching middleware, you can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to retrieve data from external sources, resulting in faster and more responsive applications. However, it’s important to use caching appropriately and avoid over-caching, which can cause memory usage issues or stale data. With careful consideration and testing, caching can be a powerful tool in your .NET Core development toolbox to deliver fast and responsive applications that meet users’ expectations.