Hazelcast is an open-source, distributed computing platform that provides in-memory storage and caching capabilities. One of the key features of Hazelcast is the ability to implement a “Near Cache” mechanism, which can significantly improve application performance by caching frequently accessed data closer to the application.

In this blog post, we will explore how to implement Near Cache with Hazelcast in Java.

What is Near Cache?

Near Cache is a caching mechanism that allows you to store a copy of frequently accessed data on the client-side, closer to the application. This reduces the need to access the data from the remote cache, improving overall system performance.

With Near Cache, when you request data from Hazelcast, it first checks if the data is available in the local cache (Near Cache). If the data is present, it is returned immediately, avoiding the network overhead of going to the remote cache. If the data is not present in the local cache, Hazelcast fetches the data from the remote cache and updates the local cache for future access.

Implementing Near Cache with Hazelcast

To implement Near Cache with Hazelcast in Java, we need to follow these steps:

1. Add the required dependencies to your project.

    // Maven dependency
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.hazelcast</groupId>
        <artifactId>hazelcast</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.1</version>
    </dependency>
   

2. Create a HazelcastInstance.

    import com.hazelcast.config.*;
    import com.hazelcast.core.*;
   
    Config config = new Config();
    NearCacheConfig nearCacheConfig = new NearCacheConfig();
    nearCacheConfig.setName("myNearCache");
    nearCacheConfig.setInvalidateOnChange(true);
    config.getMapConfig("myMap")
            .setNearCacheConfig(nearCacheConfig);
   
    HazelcastInstance hazelcastInstance = Hazelcast.newHazelcastInstance(config);
   

3. Use the Near Cache in your application.

    IMap<String, String> myMap = hazelcastInstance.getMap("myMap");
    myMap.put("key", "value");  // Data will be stored in the Near Cache
   
    String value = myMap.get("key");  // Retrieve data from the Near Cache
   
    myMap.remove("key");  // Data will be removed from the Near Cache
   

Conclusion

Implementing Near Cache with Hazelcast in Java can significantly improve application performance by caching frequently accessed data closer to the application. By reducing the need to access data from the remote cache, the network overhead is minimized, resulting in faster response times.

By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can easily implement Near Cache with Hazelcast in your Java application and take advantage of its caching capabilities. So go ahead and optimize your application’s performance with Near Cache! #Hazelcast #NearCache