Laravel Caching Strategies for High Performance

Caching is one of the most effective ways to improve application performance. Laravel provides multiple caching strategies to suit different needs.

Cache Drivers

Laravel supports multiple cache drivers:

# File-based caching
CACHE_DRIVER=file

# Redis (recommended for production)
CACHE_DRIVER=redis

# Memcached
CACHE_DRIVER=memcached

# Database
CACHE_DRIVER=database
Copy

Basic Caching

// Store data in cache
Cache::put('key', 'value', 3600); // 1 hour

// Retrieve from cache
$value = Cache::get('key');

// Cache with default value
$value = Cache::get('key', 'default');

// Remember pattern
$users = Cache::remember('users.all', 3600, function () {
    return User::all();
});
Copy

Model Caching

class Post extends Model
{
    public function getRouteKeyName()
    {
        return 'slug';
    }
    
    public static function findBySlugCached($slug)
    {
        return Cache::remember("posts.{$slug}", 3600, function () use ($slug) {
            return static::where('slug', $slug)->first();
        });
    }
}
Copy

Query Result Caching

// Cache expensive queries
$popularPosts = Cache::remember('posts.popular', 1800, function () {
    return Post::with('author')
        ->where('views', '>', 1000)
        ->orderBy('views', 'desc')
        ->take(10)
        ->get();
});
Copy

Cache Tags (Redis/Memcached)

// Store with tags
Cache::tags(['posts', 'authors'])->put('post.1', $post, 3600);

// Flush by tag
Cache::tags(['posts'])->flush();
Copy

Cache Invalidation

class Post extends Model
{
    protected static function booted()
    {
        static::saved(function ($post) {
            Cache::forget("posts.{$post->slug}");
            Cache::forget('posts.popular');
        });
        
        static::deleted(function ($post) {
            Cache::forget("posts.{$post->slug}");
        });
    }
}
Copy

HTTP Caching

// In your controller
public function show(Post $post)
{
    return response($post)
        ->header('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=3600')
        ->header('ETag', md5($post->updated_at));
}
Copy

Cache Warming

// Artisan command to warm cache
class WarmCache extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'cache:warm';
    
    public function handle()
    {
        $this->info('Warming cache...');
        
        // Warm popular queries
        Cache::remember('posts.popular', 3600, function () {
            return Post::popular()->get();
        });
        
        $this->info('Cache warmed successfully!');
    }
}
Copy

Proper caching can reduce response times from seconds to milliseconds!