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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

Cache

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/kæʃ/nounCore term

In software engineering, cache means: A place where copies of files or data are kept for a while so they can be served again faster, for example in the browser, on a CDN or on the server.

In Turkish: önbellek, cache

How it is used

Also a verb: to cache a response. Developers clear and invalidate caches and set Cache-Control headers. 'It's a cache issue' is a typical answer when users still see an old version.

Example sentences

  1. Users still see the old logo because it's in their browser cache.

  2. We cache the product list for five minutes to reduce database load.

Common collocations

  • clear the cache
  • browser cache
  • cache invalidation
  • cache headers
  • hard refresh
  • CDNContent Delivery Network: a network of servers around the world that stores copies of a site's files and delivers them from the location closest to each user.
  • load timeHow long a page takes to download and appear on screen in a usable state, usually measured in seconds or milliseconds.
  • headerA name and value pair sent with an HTTP request or response that carries extra information, such as Content-Type, Authorization or Cache-Control.
  • browserA program such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge that downloads web pages and turns their code into the screens people read and use.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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