WorkerCache

WorkerCache is a caching component used with a worker pool to store results or worker state, reducing recomputation and improving throughput in concurrent environments where tasks may submit identical work or perform expensive operations.

It is commonly implemented as an in-memory data structure colocated with the worker manager, or as a separate service in distributed setups. Entries are keyed by a task signature (such as a hash of inputs and operation type) and may cache results or serialized outputs, with optional expiration.

Typical features include thread-safe access, TTL-based expiration, and eviction policies (LRU, LFU, or custom schemes). Support for cache invalidation when inputs change and for persistence to durable storage in some deployments is common. In distributed contexts, coherence guarantees vary from eventual to strong.

Common use cases include memoizing expensive computations across repeated submissions, sharing results among workers, caching configuration data, and accelerating iterative data pipelines.

Key considerations are memory usage, serialization overhead, cache warm-up, and the potential for stale data. Hit rate, eviction cost, and correctness requirements influence design. Security and isolation matter when caching sensitive inputs.

See also: caching, memoization, worker pools, distributed caches, and cache eviction policies.