Caching
Saving a copy of data so you do not have to fetch it again.
Definition
Caching stores a copy of frequently accessed data in a fast-access location — browser memory, a CDN edge server, or a Redis database — so subsequent requests skip the slow original source. It trades storage space for speed. Almost every layer of the web stack uses some form of caching.
Example
Your browser caches CSS files after the first page load. On the next visit, it reads the cached copy from disk instead of downloading it again, making the page appear almost instantly.
See it in context Learn how Caching fits into the bigger picture of how software actually works.
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