What is caching in Spring Boot and how can I implement it?

What is caching in Spring Boot and how can I implement it?

Caching in Spring Boot is a mechanism to store frequently accessed data in memory to improve performance. You can implement it using annotations like @Cacheable, @CachePut, and @CacheEvict.

Can you give me an example of how to use the @Cacheable annotation?

Sure! You can annotate a method with @Cacheable, and it will cache the result. For example:

@Cacheable("books")
public Book findBookById(Long id) {
    return bookRepository.findById(id).orElse(null);
}

What configuration do I need to enable caching?

You need to add @EnableCaching to your main application class and configure a cache manager, like ConcurrentHashMap or Redis, in your application properties.

Are there any best practices for using caching in Spring Boot?

Yes, some best practices include setting appropriate cache expiration times, avoiding caching large objects, and using cache eviction strategies to keep the cache updated.