The basic concept of cookies and web cache
Cache & cookie are two forms by which information is stored in the systems or computers we can utter that. This information on a particular website is stored on the client’s machine only to improve the major performance of web pages.
Cache & Cookies both differ in many aspects; primarily in types of information stored by them. Cache stores information regarding the website. On the other hand, cache stores information about the user which is accessed by the websites. Before we go clear out the difference between cache and cookies, first let’s have a look at what is browser, what are cache and what are cookies.
What is a Browser?
A browser is a software that is used to access the Internet. A browser is something that usually allows you to browse and lets you visit websites and do activities within them only.
In a browser, if a user tries to open a particular website, the web browser retrieves the majorly required data, content, or any other necessary information from the web server, then concurrently displays the resulting web page on the user’s device or system.
What is Cache?
The cache is mainly used to store the data, content or any other information of the particular website for the long run purposes. It is temporary storage of the web page resources stored on client’s machines for quicker loading of the web pages.
A cache works in both hardware and software to provide similar functionality. However, it is transferred to the cache memory temporarily only if it is frequently enough. The process of storing and accessing data from a cache is known as caching.
Caching serves as an intermediary component between the primary storage appliance and the recipient hardware or software to reduce the latency in data access.
What are Cookies?
A cookie is a small piece of data sent from a particular website. Cookies (are also known as web-cookie, internet cookie, browser cookie) are basically minute files downloaded to your computers. Cookies are also used to store crucial content, data, and pieces of information. As we have mentioned that it is a small file that sends data from the webserver to the PC. Cookies are usually used to store information needed for shorter periods.
Cookies were first introduced by Netscape. In those earlier stages, cookies did not receive good acceptance, since rumors said it might hack your personal data. Later people realized that cookies are actually harmless, and now they are highly accepted.
Server cache vs Browser cache
They’re not, and here’s more detail as well as the differences between a site cache, browser cache, and server cache. Now, if we talk about the major types of caches then they are not & here’s more information & instruction along with more detail as well as the important difference between these three; site cache, server cache, and browser cache. The three types are quite major points to notice in the cache zone.
- Browser Cache: Most of the web browsers cache web page data by default. Browser caching involves a visitor’s browser downloading your website’s resources (e.g. HTML files, JavaScript files, and images) to their local drive. In short, a browser cache is a kind of client-side cache, which means it’s also a type of site caching. It works in the same way and it’s a cache system that’s built into a browser.
- Server Cache: Server cache is all about storing the data, information that mostly used on the server. All such caching work is effectively managed on the server, and there is no direct access to the browser or the end-user. The server holds the pre-assembled version of the various web pages of a website.
How to refresh your cache?
ON WINDOWS/LINUX:
Chrome- hold down the `ctrl` button and then click the reload button.
Firefox- hold down the `ctrl` and shift and then press `r.
IE- hold the `ctrl` key and then click the refresh button.
ON MAC:
Chrome- hold down shift and press the reload button.
Firefox- hold down shift and press refresh.
ON IPHONE/IPAD:
Safari- go to settings > safari and scroll to the bottom of options.
Click “clear history & website data.
ON ANDROID:
In Chrome, tap the menu button in the upper right hand (three vertical dots).
Go to setting > privacy.
Click “Clear browsing data”.
In the pop-up, check the boxes next to the items you want to clear (including your cache) and click “clear”.
Advantages of clearing cache
When you use your browser to look at a website for the very first time, it stores information from the site in temporary files in its cache. Website pages can contain different elements– if you load them up from the stored cached version, you’ll have quicker load times.
Caching files may contain some disadvantages, however, it sometimes makes sense to clear the caches.
- Reduced Latency: One of the most common complaints users have all regarding a website’s performance is slowness. Caching can help to reduce the load time because it retrieves content closer to the user’s location.
- Content availability: The availability of site content plays a key role in the user’s experience. Regardless of the geographic location of the users, they expect to be able to access all the site content.
- Mitigated network congestion: Caching can considerably reduce network congestion just by forming short the path traveled in the major fetching process. Here, not all the requests are being all directed to the origin server with caching, so it simply opens up the network and significantly reduces the load on the main origin server, which ultimately permits even non-cached content to load it more faster.
Disadvantages of cache browser
- Lose your saved passwords
- Browsing History
- Download History
- Auto-fill
All in All
In a nutshell, a cookie is a small file used to keep track of you and your preferences when you go to a website. Cache stores information regarding the website. On the other hand, cache stores information about the user which is accessed by the websites.
Useful resources for Cache & Cookies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_cache
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