The Developer Tools Podcast with Fexingo · 2026-07-30 · 7 min
Caching an API seems simple - store a response, serve it fast. But the real challenge is correctness: stale data, cache stampedes, and invalidation nightmares. This episode explores the trade-offs of API caching using concrete examples: GitHub's ETag-based conditional requests that slash bandwidth, Stripe's idempotency keys for write deduplication, and the write-through versus write-behind dilemma. Lucas and Luna discuss when caching hurts more than helps - like with rapidly mutating data or poorly scoped cache keys. They also cover practical patterns like time-based TTLs, event-driven purging, and CDN caching for static resources. Whether you're building a public API or an internal microservice, understanding these caching strategies is essential for performance without correctness compromises. #API #Caching #ETag #ConditionalRequests #CacheInvalidation #Performance #Latency #WebDevelopment #SoftwareEngineering #Backend #APIDesign #DeveloperTools #Infrastructure #Technology #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TechPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
Other episodes covering the same guests and topics, from across The B2B Podcast Index.
Why API Webhook Payloads Should Be Signed Not Verified90 / 100Why API Rate Limit Headers Confuse Every Developer90 / 100Why API Response Envelopes Waste Bandwidth82 / 100How Idempotency-Key Design Prevents Payment Disasters98 / 100Why API Error Budgets Should Be Debugging Budgets92 / 100
