Request based caching of data store data

Abstract

A request, such as those embedded in URLs and XML documents, is assigned to a thread of execution in a server that is in communication with a data store. The thread of execution includes a thread local storage with a pointer to a cache object. The cache object maintains copies of data store entries frequently accessed by the assigned request. The cache object is accessed in response to data store access commands arising from the request. When a data store access command specifies a data store entry not found in the cache object, the server creates and loads a corresponding cache object entry. The cache object is not updated when other requests alter data store entries, and memory access commands arising from other requests cannot cause the cache object to be accessed. When the request causes the server to write data to the data store, the cache object also maintains a copy of the written data. The server retrieves the written data from the cache object in response to subsequent data store access queries arising from the request. The cache object is destroyed once the server completes a response to the request.