This summer, take time to clear your cache – literally, and figuratively.
What is a cache, you ask?
According to the dictionary, cache (pronounced “cash”) is a “collection of items…stored in a hidden or inaccessible place.” While computers, tablets, and phones use many different types of caches, today we’re going to talk about web caches. Web caching is when your browser essentially creates hidden folders to hold onto elements they think they might need again. These hidden folders help speed up load time on the internet.
How does a web cache work?
Caching is very complicated and uses lots of algorithms to determine what and when to store information. Following guides set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, your cache decides what to hold onto and for how long, grabbing things from the internet to store to load faster and decrease bandwidth. In this hidden folder, your browser stores images, icons, scripts, and even whole web pages. Every time you revisit a site, your cache updates what content has changed or was not already stored.
What about other types of caching?
Here in the office we like to joke that sometimes we need to clear other types of caches—more, specifically, we need to clear our own cache – excess information from our mind and take a breather from our work. We find that this occurs more frequently in the summer—how can you not be tempted to want to take a break and destress with the beautiful weather outside? Everyone needs to take a break from our work and clear their minds. Our solution to clear our office cache can be anything from getting up and walk around the office, to going for a quick ice cream run. It’s important take a vacation or a day off to hike or relax helps rid our minds of the information we’ve been hanging onto for too long. Clearing our mental cache is a great way to reset: it opens up storage space for us to find new inspiration to bring life to our projects.
What do you do to clear your cache?
