Handle-with-cache.c

In systems programming, efficiency is paramount. Repeatedly opening, reading, or computing the same resource (a file, a network socket, a database row, or a complex calculation result) is wasteful. This is where caching becomes indispensable.

// Create new cache entry CacheEntry *new_entry = malloc(sizeof(CacheEntry)); new_entry->profile = profile; new_entry->last_access = time(NULL); new_entry->ref_count = 1;

This article breaks down the key components, implementation strategies, and concurrency considerations for building a robust handle cache in C. Imagine a function get_user_profile(user_id) that reads a large JSON file from disk or queries a database. If your application needs this profile multiple times per second, disk I/O or network latency becomes a bottleneck. handle-with-cache.c

A common optimization is or using a per-key mutex:

// The cache itself (often a global or passed context) static GHashTable *handle_cache = NULL; static pthread_mutex_t cache_lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER; This function does the actual heavy lifting – creating a handle from scratch. In systems programming, efficiency is paramount

// Store in cache (use user_id as key) int *key = malloc(sizeof(int)); *key = user_id; g_hash_table_insert(handle_cache, key, new_entry);

pthread_mutex_unlock(&cache_lock); return profile; } // Create new cache entry CacheEntry *new_entry =

void release_user_profile_handle(UserProfile *profile) { if (!profile) return;