πββοΈ Updating to v1.0.0 ? please read here. |
---|
It was born after years of dealing with all sorts of different types of caches: memory caching, distributed caching, http caching, CDNs, browser cache, offline cache, you name it. So I've tried to put together these experiences and came up with FusionCache.
Being a hybrid cache means that it can work both as a normal memory cache (L1) or, optionally, as a multi-level cache (L1+L2) where the 2nd level can be any implementation of the standard IDistributedCache
interface. This will get us better better scalability, better performance and more resiliency in a multi-node scenario or even just to ease cold starts (initial empty cache, maybe after a restart).
Optionally, it can also use a backplane: in a multi-node scenario this will send notifications to the other nodes to keep all the memory caches involved perfectly synchronized, without any additional work.
FusionCache also includes some advanced resiliency features like cache stampede prevention, a fail-safe mechanism, fine grained soft/hard timeouts with background factory completion, customizable extensive logging and more (see below).
On August 2021, FusionCache received the Google Open Source Peer Bonus Award: here is the official blogpost.
With π¦ A Gentle Introduction you'll get yourself comfortable with the overall concepts.
Want to start using it immediately? There's a β Quick Start for you.
Curious about what you can achieve from start to finish? There's a π©βπ« Step By Step guide.
More into videos?
I've been lucky enough to be invited on some shows and podcasts here and there: you can find them in the Media section.
A good example is when the fine folks at On .NET invited me on the show to allow me to mumbling random caching stuff.
These are the key features of FusionCache:
IDistributedCache
ILogger
interfaceMain packages:
Package Name | Version | Downloads |
---|---|---|
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache The core package |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.OpenTelemetry Adds native support for OpenTelemetry setup |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Chaos A package to add some controlled chaos, for testing |
Serializers:
Package Name | Version | Downloads |
---|---|---|
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.NewtonsoftJson A serializer, based on Newtonsoft Json.NET |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.SystemTextJson A serializer, based on the new System.Text.Json |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.NeueccMessagePack A MessagePack serializer, based on the most used MessagePack serializer on .NET |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.ProtoBufNet A Protobuf serializer, based on one of the most used protobuf-net serializer on .NET |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.CysharpMemoryPack A serializer based on the uber fast new serializer by Neuecc, MemoryPack |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Serialization.ServiceStackJson A serializer based on the ServiceStack JSON serializer |
Backplanes:
Package Name | Version | Downloads |
---|---|---|
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Backplane.Memory An in-memory backplane (mainly for testing) |
||
ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Backplane.StackExchangeRedis A Redis backplane, based on StackExchange.Redis |
Third-party packages:
Package Name | Version | Downloads |
---|---|---|
JoeShook.ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Metrics.Core | ||
JoeShook.ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Metrics.EventCounters | ||
JoeShook.ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache.Metrics.AppMetrics |
FusionCache can be installed via the nuget UI (search for the ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache
package) or via the nuget package manager console:
PM> Install-Package ZiggyCreatures.FusionCache
As an example, imagine having a method that retrieves a product from your database:
Product GetProductFromDb(int id) {
// YOUR DATABASE CALL HERE
}
π‘ This is using the sync programming model, but it would be equally valid with the newer async one for even better performance.
To start using FusionCache the first thing is create a cache instance:
var cache = new FusionCache(new FusionCacheOptions());
If instead you are using DI (Dependency Injection) use this:
services.AddFusionCache();
We can also specify some global options, like a default FusionCacheEntryOptions
object to serve as a default for each call we'll make, with a duration of 2 minutes
:
var cache = new FusionCache(new FusionCacheOptions() {
DefaultEntryOptions = new FusionCacheEntryOptions {
Duration = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2)
}
});
Or, using DI, like this:
services.AddFusionCache()
.WithDefaultEntryOptions(new FusionCacheEntryOptions {
Duration = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2)
})
;
Now, to get the product from the cache and, if not there, get it from the database in an optimized way and cache it for 30 sec
(overriding the default 2 min
we set above) simply do this:
var id = 42;
cache.GetOrSet<Product>(
$"product:{id}",
_ => GetProductFromDb(id),
TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
);
That's it π
If you are in for a ride you can read a complete step by step example of why a cache is useful, why FusionCache could be even more so, how to apply most of the options available and what results you can expect to obtain.
Distributed systems are, in general, quite complex to understand.
When using FusionCache with the distributed cache, the backplane and auto-recovery the Simulator can help us seeing the whole picture.
FusionCache targets .NET Standard 2.0
so any compatible .NET implementation is fine: this means .NET Framework
(the old one), .NET Core 2+
and .NET 5/6/7/8+
(the new ones), Mono
5.4+ and more (see here for a complete rundown).
NOTE: if you are running on .NET Framework 4.6.1 and want to use .NET Standard packages Microsoft suggests to upgrade to .NET Framework 4.7.2 or higher (see the .NET Standard Documentation) to avoid some known dependency issues.
There are various alternatives out there with different features, different performance characteristics (cpu/memory) and in general a different set of pros/cons.
A feature comparison between existing .NET caching solutions may help you choose which one to use.
Nothing to do here.
After years of using a lot of open source stuff for free, this is just me trying to give something back to the community.
If you really want to talk about money, please consider making β€ a donation to a good cause of your choosing, and let me know about that.
Yes!
FusionCache is being used in production on real world projects for years, happily handling millions and millions of requests.
Considering that the FusionCache packages have been downloaded more than 5 million times (thanks everybody!) it may very well be used even more.
Oh, and it is being used in products by Microsoft itself, like [Data API Builder]()!
If you find FusionCache useful please let me know, I'm really interested!
This is the only way for me to know how it is helping people.