What are some examples of Cache-Control headers?

What are some examples of Cache-Control headers?

Cache-Control headers are used to specify caching policies in HTTP responses. Here are a few examples:

1. Cache-Control: no-cache - Forces caches to submit the request to the origin server for validation before releasing a cached copy.
2. Cache-Control: no-store - The response should not be cached at all.
3. Cache-Control: max-age=3600 - The response is considered fresh for 1 hour (3600 seconds).
4. Cache-Control: public - The response may be cached by any cache.
5. Cache-Control: private - The response is intended for a single user and should not be stored by shared caches.

Can you explain what max-age means?

Sure! The max-age directive specifies the maximum amount of time a resource is considered fresh. For example, max-age=3600 means the resource is fresh for 3600 seconds (1 hour). After that, caches must revalidate the resource with the origin server.

What happens if I set no-store?

If you set no-store, it instructs caches not to store any part of the request or response. This is useful for sensitive information that should not be cached.

Are there any other directives I should know about?

Yes, there are several other directives like must-revalidate, which requires caches to revalidate stale responses, and immutable, which indicates that the resource will not change over time.