Cache

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What Does Cache Mean?

A cache, in computing, is a data storing technique that provides the ability to access data or files at a higher speed.

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Caches are implemented both in hardware and software. Caching serves as an intermediary component between the primary storage appliance and the recipient hardware or software device to reduce the latency in data access.

Techopedia Explains Cache

A cache works in both hardware and software to provide similar functionality. In its physical or hardware form, it is a small form factor of internal memory that stores instances of the most frequently executed programs in the main memory to enable faster access when they are requested by the CPU.

A very common example of caching is in a Web browser, where a website’s HTML, images, CSS, Javascript, etc is cached locally so that a page will load faster after its first hit.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.