Understanding Cache Max-Age in Drupal: Time-Based Caching Explained
Ovanes Budakyan has released the fourth installment of his Drupal caching series, focusing on cache max-age, a key feature for managing the lifespan of cached data. Cache max-age defines how long cached items remain valid, measured in seconds, after which they are marked as stale and require regeneration. Ovanes explains that cache max-age can be set programmatically using Drupal’s CacheBackendInterface or applied to render arrays via CacheableMetadata.
Debugging cache max-age can be done by enabling cacheability headers, inspecting HTTP headers, or querying the cache backend programmatically. Real-life use cases include short cache durations for live sports scores and breaking news, while e-commerce pages may have longer cache lifespans. Budakyan emphasizes the importance of combining cache max-age with cache tags and contexts for more precise control. This article follows previous entries in the series covering cache bins, tags, and contexts, with a final entry on cache bubbling forthcoming.
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