python-cache 0.0.11
Pythonic way of Caching
License: MIT License

# python-cache

## Introduction
Caching is a common way to improve the performance of any project, making caching libraries one of the most common features of many frameworks and libraries. This has lead to a situation where many libraries roll their own caching libraries, with various levels of functionality. These differences are causing developers to have to learn multiple systems which may or may not provide the functionality they need. In addition, the developers of caching libraries themselves face a choice between only supporting a limited number of frameworks or creating a large number of adapter classes.

A common interface for caching systems will solve these problems. Library and framework developers can count on the caching systems working the way they're expecting, while the developers of caching systems will only have to implement a single set of interfaces rather than a whole assortment of adapters.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt).

## Goal

The goal of this project is to allow developers to create cache-aware libraries that can be integrated into existing frameworks and systems without the need for custom development.

## Definitions

+ **Calling Library** - The library or code that actually needs the cache services. This library will utilize caching services that implement this standard's interfaces, but will otherwise have no knowledge of the implementation of those caching services.

+ **Implementing Library** - This library is responsible for implementing this standard in order to provide caching services to any Calling Library. The Implementing Library MUST provide classes which implement the `Cache\CacheItemPoolInterface` and `Cache\CacheItemInterface` interfaces. Implementing Libraries MUST support at minimum TTL functionality as described below with whole-second granularity.

+ **TTL** - The Time To Live (TTL) of an item is the amount of time between when that item is stored and it is considered stale. The TTL is normally defined by an integer representing time in seconds, or a DateInterval object.

+ **Expiration** - The actual time when an item is set to go stale. This it typically calculated by adding the TTL to the time when an object is stored, but may also be explicitly set with DateTime object.  
*An item with a 300 second TTL stored at 1:30:00 will have an expiration of 1:35:00.*
Implementing Libraries MAY expire an item before its requested Expiration Time, but MUST treat an item as expired once its Expiration Time is reached. If a calling library asks for an item to be saved but does not specify an expiration time, or specifies a null expiration time or TTL, an Implementing Library MAY use a configured default duration. If no default duration has been set, the Implementing Library MUST interpret that as a request to cache the item forever, or for as long as the underlying implementation supports.

+ **Key** - A string of at least one character that uniquely identifies a cached item. Implementing libraries MUST support keys consisting of the characters `A-Z`, `a-z`, `0-9`, `_`, and `.` in any order in UTF-8 encoding and a length of up to 64 characters. Implementing libraries MAY support additional characters and encodings or longer lengths, but must support at least that minimum. Libraries are responsible for their own escaping of key strings as appropriate, but MUST be able to return the original unmodified key string. The following characters are reserved for future extensions and MUST NOT be supported by implementing libraries: `{}()/\@`:

+ **Hit** - A cache hit occurs when a Calling Library requests an Item by key and a matching value is found for that key, and that value has not expired, and the value is not invalid for some other reason. Calling Libraries SHOULD make sure to verify `isHit()` on all `get()` calls.

+ **Miss** - A cache miss is the opposite of a cache hit. A cache miss occurs when a Calling Library requests an item by key and that value not found for that key, or the value was found but has expired, or the value is invalid for some other reason. An expired value MUST always be considered a cache miss.

+ **Deferred** - A deferred cache save indicates that a cache item may not be persisted immediately by the pool. A Pool object MAY delay persisting a deferred cache item in order to take advantage of bulk-set operations supported by some storage engines. A Pool MUST ensure that any deferred cache items are eventually persisted and data is not lost, and MAY persist them before a Calling Library requests that they be persisted. When a Calling Library invokes the `commit()` method all outstanding deferred items MUST be persisted. An Implementing Library MAY use whatever logic is appropriate to determine when to persist deferred items, such as an object destructor, persisting all on `save()`, a timeout or max-items check or any other appropriate logic. Requests for a cache item that has been deferred MUST return the deferred but not-yet-persisted item.

## Data

Implementing libraries MUST support all python [built-in types](https://docs.python.org/2/library/types.html)

All data passed into the Implementing Library MUST be returned exactly as passed. That includes the variable type. That is, it is an error to return (string) 5 if (int) 5 was the value saved. Compatibility with them is simply used as a baseline for acceptable object values.

If it is not possible to return the exact saved value for any reason, implementing libraries MUST respond with a cache miss rather than corrupted data.

## Key Concepts

**Pool**

The Pool represents a collection of items in a caching system. The pool is a logical Repository of all items it contains. All cacheable items are retrieved from the Pool as an Item object, and all interaction with the whole universe of cached objects happens through the Pool.

**Items**

An Item represents a single key/value pair within a Pool. The key is the primary unique identifier for an Item and MUST be immutable. The Value MAY be changed at any time.

## Error handling

While caching is often an important part of application performance, it should never be a critical part of application functionality. Thus, an error in a cache system SHOULD NOT result in application failure. For that reason Implementing Libraries MUST NOT throw exceptions other than those defined by the interface, and SHOULD trap any errors or exceptions triggered by an underlying data store and not allow them to bubble.

An Implementing Library SHOULD log such errors or otherwise report them to an administrator as appropriate.

If a Calling Library requests that one or more Items be deleted, or that a pool be cleared, it MUST NOT be considered an error condition if the specified key does not exist. The post-condition is the same (the key does not exist, or the pool is empty), thus there is no error condition.

## Interfaces

**CacheItemInterface**

CacheItemInterface defines an item inside a cache system. Each Item object MUST be associated with a specific key, which can be set according to the implementing system and is typically passed by the `Cache\CacheItemPoolInterface` object.

The Cache\CacheItemInterface object encapsulates the storage and retrieval of cache items. Each Cache\CacheItemInterface is generated by a Cache\CacheItemPoolInterface object, which is responsible for any required setup as well as associating the object with a unique Key. Cache\CacheItemInterface objects MUST be able to store and retrieve any type of PHP value defined in the Data section of this document.

Calling Libraries MUST NOT instantiate Item objects themselves. They may only be requested from a Pool object via the getItem() method. Calling Libraries SHOULD NOT assume that an Item created by one Implementing Library is compatible with a Pool from another Implementing Library.

**CacheItemPoolInterface**

The primary purpose of Cache\CacheItemPoolInterface is to accept a key from the Calling Library and return the associated Cache\CacheItemInterface object. It is also the primary point of interaction with the entire cache collection. All configuration and initialization of the Pool is left up to an Implementing Library.

**CacheException**

This exception interface is intended for use when critical errors occur, including but not limited to cache setup such as connecting to a cache server or invalid credentials supplied.

Any exception thrown by an Implementing Library MUST implement this interface.

## Reference
PHP-FIG: [PSR-6](http://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-6)