recached

Recached is the past participle of recache, referring to the act of refreshing or updating data stored in a cache by retrieving fresh information and storing it again. In computing, caching is used to speed data access by keeping frequently used results closer to where they are needed, and recaching ensures that stored results reflect current information.

Recaching can be automatic or manual. Common triggers include expiration or invalidation of a cache entry, which prompts a fresh fetch from the original data source. Some systems employ proactive or background recaching, where data is refreshed before it becomes stale, or upon detection of updates. Recaching may also occur on demand, such as when an administrator or process explicitly requests a refresh.

Contexts where recaching occurs include web caching and content delivery networks, where updated web pages or media are fetched from the origin to replace stale copies; database caching, where changed data invalidates cached queries and requires new results to be cached; and application-level caching or memoization, where computational results are recomputed and stored again after inputs or underlying data change.

Benefits of recaching include maintaining data freshness, reducing the risk of serving outdated content, and preserving performance by keeping updated results readily available. Challenges involve balancing recache frequency with resource usage, avoiding bursts of load on origins, and managing potential data inconsistencies in distributed caches.

In practice, recaching strategies aim to optimize freshness, performance, and system stability, tailoring refresh behavior to the data’s volatility and the application's tolerance for stale information.