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The Caching Application Block

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The latest Enterprise Library information can be found at the Enterprise Library site.

The Enterprise Library Caching Application Block lets developers incorporate a local cache in their applications. It supports both an in-memory cache and, optionally, a backing store that can either be the database store or isolated storage. The application block can be used without modification; it provides all the functionality needed to retrieve, add, and remove cached data. Configurable expiration and scavenging policies are also part of the application block.

When building enterprise-scale distributed applications, architects and developers are faced with many challenges. Caching can help them to overcome some of these challenges, including the following:

  • Performance. Caching improves application performance by storing relevant data as close as possible to the data consumer. This avoids repetitive data creation, processing, and transportation.
  • Scalability. Storing information in a cache helps save resources and increases scalability as the demands on the application increase.
  • Availability. By storing data in a local cache, the application may be able to survive system failures such as network latency, Web service problems, and hardware failures.

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More Information

For related information, see the following patterns & practices guides and documents: