SqliteCache for ASP.NET Core
SqliteCache is a persistent cache
implementing IDistributedCache
for ASP.NET Core projects.
SqliteCache uses a locally stored SQLite database file (taking advantage of SQLite's battle-tested
safe multi-threaded access features) to replicate persistent caching, allowing developers to mimic
the behavior of staging or production targets without all the overhead or hassle of a traditional
IDistributedCache
implementation. You can read more about its design and inspiration in the
official release post on the NeoSmart
blog.
NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
?
Why The currently available options for caching in ASP.NET Core projects are either all ephemeral
in-memory cache offerings (IMemoryCache
and co.) -- aka non-persistent -- or else have a whole
slew of dependencies and requirements that require at the very least administrator privileges and
background services hogging up system resources and needing updates and maintenance to requiring
multiple machines and a persistent network configuration.
NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
has no dependencies on background services that hog system resources and need to be updated or maintained (cough cough NCache cough cough)NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
is fully cross-platform and runs the same on your Windows PC or your colleagues' Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS workstations (unlike, say, Redis)NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
doesn't need administrator privileges to install - or even any installation for that matter (SQL Express LocalDB, this one is aimed at you)NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
is a fully containedIDistributedCache
offering that is installed and updated alongside the rest of your packages via NuGet, Paket, or whatever other option you're already using to manage your dependencies.
Installation
SqliteCache is available via the NuGet, and can be installed in the Package Manager Console as follows:
Install-Package NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
Usage
Using SqliteCache is straight-forward, and should be extremely familiar for anyone that's configured
an ASP.NET Core application before. Starting by adding a namespace import using NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite
makes things easier as the editor will pull in the correct extension
methods.
If using SqliteCache in an ASP.NET Core project, the SQLite-backed cache should be added as an
IDistributedCache
type by adding the following to your ConfigureServices
method, by default
located in Startup.cs
:
// using NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite;
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
...
// Note: this *must* come before services.AddMvc()!
services.AddSqliteCache(options => {
options.CachePath = @"C:\data\bazaar\cache.db";
});
services.AddMvc();
...
}
Afterwards, the SqliteCache
instance will be made available to both the framework and the
application via dependency injection, and can be imported and used via either the
IDistributedCache
abstract type or the concrete SqliteCache
type:
// using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Distributed;
public class FooModel(DbContext db, IDistributedCache cache)
{
_db = db;
_cache = cache;
cache.SetString("foo", "bar");
Assert.AreEqual(cache.GetString("foo"), "bar");
Assert.AreEqual(typeof(NeoSmart.Caching.Sqlite.SqliteCache),
cache.GetType());
}
License
SqliteCache is developed and maintained by Mahmoud Al-Qudsi of NeoSmart Technologies. The project is provided free to the community under the terms of the MIT open source license.
Contributing
We are open to pull requests and contributions aimed at the code, documentation, unit tests, or anything else. If you're mulling an extensive contribution, file an issue first to make sure we're all on the same page, otherwise, PR away!