In this blog post, we will explore how to implement custom data caching with Redux Toolkit. Caching data can greatly improve the performance of our applications by reducing redundant API calls and improving response times. Redux Toolkit provides a powerful caching middleware called createEntityAdapter, but there may be cases when we need to implement custom caching logic.

Why Custom Data Caching?

While Redux Toolkit’s createEntityAdapter is suitable for most use cases, there are scenarios where we may need more fine-grained control over our caching mechanism. For example, we may want to cache data for a specific duration or have different caching rules for different types of data.

The Approach

To implement custom data caching with Redux Toolkit, we will extend the createSlice function provided by Redux Toolkit. This allows us to define our own caching logic while still benefiting from the simplicity and efficiency of Redux Toolkit.

Here’s an example of how we can implement custom data caching with Redux Toolkit:

import { createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';

const initialState = {
  data: null,
  expiresAt: 0,
  loading: false,
  error: null,
};

const dataSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'data',
  initialState,
  reducers: {
    loadDataStart(state) {
      state.loading = true;
      state.error = null;
    },
    loadDataSuccess(state, action) {
      state.data = action.payload;
      state.expiresAt = Date.now() + 1000 * 60 * 10; // Cache data for 10 minutes
      state.loading = false;
      state.error = null;
    },
    loadDataFailure(state, action) {
      state.loading = false;
      state.error = action.payload;
    },
  },
});

export const { loadDataStart, loadDataSuccess, loadDataFailure } = dataSlice.actions;

export const loadData = () => async (dispatch) => {
  try {
    dispatch(loadDataStart());
    const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
    const data = await response.json();
    dispatch(loadDataSuccess(data));
  } catch (error) {
    dispatch(loadDataFailure(error.message));
  }
};

export default dataSlice.reducer;

In the above example, we define a custom slice called dataSlice that manages the caching behavior. We add additional properties to the initial state, such as expiresAt to determine the cache expiration time. When the loadData action is dispatched, we check if the cached data has expired before making an API call. If the data is still valid, we return the cached data; otherwise, we fetch new data from the server and update the cache with the new data.

Conclusion

By implementing custom data caching with Redux Toolkit, we can have more control over how data is cached and retrieved in our applications. This allows us to fine-tune our caching strategy to better suit our specific needs. Remember to consider the trade-offs between caching duration, storage limitations, and data consistency when implementing custom caching logic.

#redux #caching