Simple ASP.Net Caching Data in C# to Improve PerformanceA short ASP.Net Caching snippet written in C# for ASP.Net or MVC which stores data in the cache reducing page generation times.
This ASP.Net caching technique is helpful for scenarios where data is retrieved from a database or third-party API and does not have to be updated in real time.
The example below shows a custom data type called MyDataType, although any .Net class can be used here.
Firstly, a call is made to get the object data from the cache location "key". If the data is not found, the function returns null, so by checking if the result is null, we know if the data was found in the cache. If the data is not found, we simply go ahead and get the data from the database or API as usual. The data is then inserted into the cache for next time.
The example below has two calls to HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert - you only need to use one. The two examples are for storing the data indefinitely and for storing the data for a specified time.
If the data is found in the cache then it can be checked to make sure that it is the correct data type (nothing has overridden the data with something else for example) then it is cast back to the original data type.
MyDataType dataToGet = new MyDataType();
object cachedObjectData = HttpRuntime.Cache.Get("key");
if (cachedObjectData == null)
{
// Data was not found in the cache so get the data from the database or external API
dataToGet = GetMyData();
// Put the data into the cache (make sure the key is the same as above
// Data will remain in the cache until the application is restarted or the cache cleared
HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert("key", dataToGet);
// If you want to force a refresh of the data periodically, use an expiration
// This will cause the data to be invalid after one hour and will be got from the source again.
// You can use any TimeSpan method to keep data for a few seconds to days or years.
HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert("key", dataToGet, null, System.Web.Caching.Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, TimeSpan.FromHours(1));
}
else
{
// Data was found in the cache, now cast to the original data type
// You should do some checking that the cached data is the correct data type to prevent an invalid cast exception
dataToGet = (MyDataType)cachedObjectData;
} 
