How can I cache objects in ASP.NET MVC?

Question

You can still use the cache (shared among all responses) and session (unique per user) for storage.

I like the following "try get from cache/create and store" pattern (c#-like pseudocode):

public static class CacheExtensions
{
  public static T GetOrStore<T>(this Cache cache, string key, Func<T> generator)
  {
    var result = cache[key];
    if(result == null)
    {
      result = generator();
      cache[key] = result;
    }
    return (T)result;
  }
}

you'd use this like so:

var user = HttpRuntime
              .Cache
              .GetOrStore<User>(
                 $"User{_userId}", 
                 () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));

You can adapt this pattern to the Session, ViewState (ugh) or any other cache mechanism. You can also extend the ControllerContext.HttpContext (which I think is one of the wrappers in System.Web.Extensions), or create a new class to do it with some room for mocking the cache.

I took Will's answer and modified it to make the CacheExtensions class static and to suggest a slight alteration in order to deal with the possibility of Func<T> being null :

public static class CacheExtensions
{

    private static object sync = new object();
    public const int DefaultCacheExpiration = 20;

    /// <summary>
    /// Allows Caching of typed data
    /// </summary>
    /// <example><![CDATA[
    /// var user = HttpRuntime
    ///   .Cache
    ///   .GetOrStore<User>(
    ///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
    ///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
    ///
    /// ]]></example>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="cache">calling object</param>
    /// <param name="key">Cache key</param>
    /// <param name="generator">Func that returns the object to store in cache</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    /// <remarks>Uses a default cache expiration period as defined in <see cref="CacheExtensions.DefaultCacheExpiration"/></remarks>
    public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache cache, string key, Func<T> generator ) {
        return cache.GetOrStore( key, (cache[key] == null && generator != null) ? generator() : default( T ), DefaultCacheExpiration );
    }


    /// <summary>
    /// Allows Caching of typed data
    /// </summary>
    /// <example><![CDATA[
    /// var user = HttpRuntime
    ///   .Cache
    ///   .GetOrStore<User>(
    ///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
    ///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
    ///
    /// ]]></example>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="cache">calling object</param>
    /// <param name="key">Cache key</param>
    /// <param name="generator">Func that returns the object to store in cache</param>
    /// <param name="expireInMinutes">Time to expire cache in minutes</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache cache, string key, Func<T> generator, double expireInMinutes ) {
        return cache.GetOrStore( key,  (cache[key] == null && generator != null) ? generator() : default( T ), expireInMinutes );
    }


    /// <summary>
    /// Allows Caching of typed data
    /// </summary>
    /// <example><![CDATA[
    /// var user = HttpRuntime
    ///   .Cache
    ///   .GetOrStore<User>(
    ///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId),_userId));
    ///
    /// ]]></example>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="cache">calling object</param>
    /// <param name="key">Cache key</param>
    /// <param name="obj">Object to store in cache</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    /// <remarks>Uses a default cache expiration period as defined in <see cref="CacheExtensions.DefaultCacheExpiration"/></remarks>
    public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache cache, string key, T obj ) {
        return cache.GetOrStore( key, obj, DefaultCacheExpiration );
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Allows Caching of typed data
    /// </summary>
    /// <example><![CDATA[
    /// var user = HttpRuntime
    ///   .Cache
    ///   .GetOrStore<User>(
    ///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
    ///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
    ///
    /// ]]></example>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="cache">calling object</param>
    /// <param name="key">Cache key</param>
    /// <param name="obj">Object to store in cache</param>
    /// <param name="expireInMinutes">Time to expire cache in minutes</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache cache, string key, T obj, double expireInMinutes ) {
        var result = cache[key];

        if ( result == null ) {

            lock ( sync ) {
                result = cache[key];
                if ( result == null ) {
                    result = obj != null ? obj : default( T );
                    cache.Insert( key, result, null, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( expireInMinutes ), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration );
                }
            }
        }

        return (T)result;

    }

}

I would also consider taking this a step further to implement a testable Session solution that extends the System.Web.HttpSessionStateBase abstract class.

public static class SessionExtension
{
    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    /// <example><![CDATA[
    /// var user = HttpContext
    ///   .Session
    ///   .GetOrStore<User>(
    ///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
    ///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
    ///
    /// ]]></example>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="cache"></param>
    /// <param name="key"></param>
    /// <param name="generator"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static T GetOrStore<T>( this HttpSessionStateBase session, string name, Func<T> generator ) {

        var result = session[name];
        if ( result != null )
            return (T)result;

        result = generator != null ? generator() : default( T );
        session.Add( name, result );
        return (T)result;
    }

}

If you want it cached for the length of the request, put this in your controller base class:

public User User {
    get {
        User _user = ControllerContext.HttpContext.Items["user"] as User;

        if (_user == null) {
            _user = _repository.Get<User>(id);
            ControllerContext.HttpContext.Items["user"] = _user;
        }

        return _user;
    }
}

If you want to cache for longer, use the replace the ControllerContext call with one to Cache[]. If you do choose to use the Cache object to cache longer, you'll need to use a unique cache key as it will be shared across requests/users.

A couple of the other answers here don't deal with the following:

• cache stampede
• double check lock

This could lead to the generator (which could take a long time) running more than once in different threads.

Here's my version that shouldn't suffer from this problem:

// using System;
// using System.Web.Caching;

// https://stackoverflow.com/a/42443437
// Usage: HttpRuntime.Cache.GetOrStore("myKey", () => GetSomethingToCache());

public static class CacheExtensions
{
    private static readonly object sync = new object();
    private static TimeSpan defaultExpire = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(20);

    public static T GetOrStore<T>(this Cache cache, string key, Func<T> generator) =>
        cache.GetOrStore(key, generator, defaultExpire);

    public static T GetOrStore<T>(this Cache cache, string key, Func<T> generator, TimeSpan expire)
    {
        var result = cache[key];
        if (result == null)
        {
            lock (sync)
            {
                result = cache[key];
                if (result == null)
                {
                    result = generator();
                    cache.Insert(key, result, null, DateTime.UtcNow.AddMinutes(expire.TotalMinutes), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration);
                }
            }
        }
        return (T)result;
    }
}

I like to hide the fact that the data is cached in the repository. You can access the cache through the HttpContext.Current.Cache property and store the User information using "User"+id.ToString() as the key.

This means that all access to the User data from the repository will use cached data if available and requires no code changes in the model, controller, or view.

I have used this method to correct serious performance problems on a system that was querying the database for each User property and reduced page load times from minutes to single digit seconds.

@njappboy: Nice implementation. I would only defer the Generator( ) invocation until the last responsible moment. thus you can cache method invocations too.

/// <summary>
/// Allows Caching of typed data
/// </summary>
/// <example><![CDATA[
/// var user = HttpRuntime
///   .Cache
///   .GetOrStore<User>(
///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
///
/// ]]></example>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="Cache">calling object</param>
/// <param name="Key">Cache key</param>
/// <param name="Generator">Func that returns the object to store in cache</param>
/// <returns></returns>
/// <remarks>Uses a default cache expiration period as defined in <see cref="CacheExtensions.DefaultCacheExpiration"/></remarks>
public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache Cache, string Key, Func<T> Generator )
{
    return Cache.GetOrStore( Key, Generator, DefaultCacheExpiration );
}

/// <summary>
/// Allows Caching of typed data
/// </summary>
/// <example><![CDATA[
/// var user = HttpRuntime
///   .Cache
///   .GetOrStore<User>(
///      string.Format("User{0}", _userId), 
///      () => Repository.GetUser(_userId));
///
/// ]]></example>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="Cache">calling object</param>
/// <param name="Key">Cache key</param>
/// <param name="Generator">Func that returns the object to store in cache</param>
/// <param name="ExpireInMinutes">Time to expire cache in minutes</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static T GetOrStore<T>( this Cache Cache, string Key, Func<T> Generator, double ExpireInMinutes )
{
    var Result = Cache [ Key ];

    if( Result == null )
    {
        lock( Sync )
        {
            if( Result == null )
            {
                Result = Generator( );
                Cache.Insert( Key, Result, null, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( ExpireInMinutes ), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration );
            }
        }
    }

    return ( T ) Result;
}