What are the performance implications of LRU caching?

What are the performance implications of LRU caching?

LRU caching can significantly improve performance by reducing access times for frequently used data, but it also has overhead.

What kind of overhead are we talking about?

The overhead includes memory usage for the cache and the time taken to update the cache when items are accessed or evicted.

How does LRU compare to other caching strategies?

LRU is often more efficient than FIFO or random caching for workloads with temporal locality, but it can be more complex to implement.

Are there scenarios where LRU might not be the best choice?

Yes, in cases with unpredictable access patterns or when the working set is larger than the cache, other strategies might perform better.