Caching Methods with Spring 3 Annotations

Introduction

This page explains adding caching to methods using the Ehcache Annotations for Spring project.

Problem

You’d like to cache methods of your application with minimal code changes and use configuration to control the cache settings.

Solution

Use the Ehcache Annotations for Spring project at code.google.com to dynamically configure caching of method return values.

Discussion

The Ehcache Annotations for Spring project is a successor to the Spring-Modules project. This project will allow you to configure caching of method calls dynamically using just configuration.

The way it works is that the parameter values of the method will be used as a composite key into the cache, caching the return value of the method.

For example, suppose you have a method: Dog getDog(String name).

Once caching is added to this method, all calls to the method will be cached using the “name” parameter as a key.

So, assume at time t0 the application calls this method with the name equal to “fido”. Since “fido” doesn’t exist, the method is allowed to run, generating the “fido” Dog object, and returning it. This object is then put into the cache using the key “fido”.

Then assume at time t1 the application calls this method with the name equal to “spot”. The same process is repeated, and the cache is now populated with the Dog object named “spot”.

Finally, at time t2 the application again calls the method with the name “fido”. Since “fido” exists in the cache, the “fido” Dog object is returned from the cache instead of calling the method.

To implement this in your application, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Add the jars to your application as listed on the Ehcache Annotations for Spring project site.

Step 2:

Add the Annotation to methods you would like to cache. Lets assume you are using the Dog getDog(String name) method from above:

         @Cacheable(name="getDog")
Dog getDog(String name) {
  ....
}

Step 3:

Configure Spring. You must add the following to your Spring configuration file in the beans declaration section:

         <ehcache:annotation-driven cache-manager="ehCacheManager" />

More details can be found at: