Cache Bursting
Cache bursting is a technique used in web development to improve the performance and speed of a website. It involves the bursting of cache by refreshing or invalidating the cache content whenever there is a change in the website’s content.
When a user visits a website, their browser stores a copy of the website’s content in its cache to speed up loading times for future visits. However, if the website’s content is updated or changed, the cached version becomes outdated and may not reflect the latest changes. This is where cache bursting comes into play.
By bursting the cache, the website ensures that the latest version of the content is served to the users, providing a better user experience and avoiding any confusion or inconsistencies due to outdated content.
Examples of Cache Bursting:
- Adding a version number to the URLs of static assets like CSS, JavaScript, and images. For example, changing „styles.css“ to „styles.css?v=2“ forces the browser to fetch the latest version of the file instead of using the cached version.
- Using cache-control headers to control how long the browser caches the content. By setting a short expiration time, the browser will be forced to revalidate the content with the server before using the cached version.
Cache bursting is an essential technique for maintaining the consistency and accuracy of a website’s content, especially for dynamic websites with frequently changing content.
For more information on cache bursting, you can visit Wikipedia.