Name
====

lua-resty-lrucache - Lua-land LRU cache based on the LuaJIT FFI.

Table of Contents
=================

* [Name](#name)
* [Status](#status)
* [Synopsis](#synopsis)
* [Description](#description)
* [Methods](#methods)
    * [new](#new)
    * [set](#set)
    * [get](#get)
    * [delete](#delete)
    * [count](#count)
    * [capacity](#capacity)
    * [get_keys](#get_keys)
    * [flush_all](#flush_all)
* [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
* [Installation](#installation)
* [Community](#community)
    * [English Mailing List](#english-mailing-list)
    * [Chinese Mailing List](#chinese-mailing-list)
* [Bugs and Patches](#bugs-and-patches)
* [Author](#author)
* [Copyright and License](#copyright-and-license)
* [See Also](#see-also)

Status
======

This library is considered production ready.

Synopsis
========

```lua
-- file myapp.lua: example "myapp" module

local _M = {}

-- alternatively: local lrucache = require "resty.lrucache.pureffi"
local lrucache = require "resty.lrucache"

-- we need to initialize the cache on the lua module level so that
-- it can be shared by all the requests served by each nginx worker process:
local c, err = lrucache.new(200)  -- allow up to 200 items in the cache
if not c then
    error("failed to create the cache: " .. (err or "unknown"))
end

function _M.go()
    c:set("dog", 32)
    c:set("cat", 56)
    ngx.say("dog: ", c:get("dog"))
    ngx.say("cat: ", c:get("cat"))

    c:set("dog", { age = 10 }, 0.1)  -- expire in 0.1 sec
    c:delete("dog")

    c:flush_all()  -- flush all the cached data
end

return _M
```

```nginx
# nginx.conf

http {
    # only if not using an official OpenResty release
    lua_package_path "/path/to/lua-resty-lrucache/lib/?.lua;;";

    server {
        listen 8080;

        location = /t {
            content_by_lua_block {
                require("myapp").go()
            }
        }
    }
}
```

Description
===========

This library implements a simple LRU cache for
[OpenResty](https://openresty.org) and the
[ngx_lua](https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module) module.

This cache also supports expiration time.

The LRU cache resides completely in the Lua VM and is subject to Lua GC. As
such, do not expect it to get shared across the OS process boundary. The upside
is that you can cache arbitrary complex Lua values (such as deep nested Lua
tables) without the overhead of serialization (as with `ngx_lua`'s [shared
dictionary
API](https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module#lua_shared_dict)).
The downside is that your cache is always limited to the current OS process
(i.e. the current Nginx worker process). It does not really make much sense to
use this library in the context of
[init_by_lua](https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module#lua_shared_dict)
because the cache will not get shared by any of the worker processes (unless
you just want to "warm up" the cache with predefined items which will get
inherited by the workers via `fork()`).

This library offers two different implementations in the form of two classes:
`resty.lrucache` and `resty.lrucache.pureffi`. Both implement the same API.
The only difference is that the latter is a pure FFI implementation that also
implements an FFI-based hash table for the cache lookup, while the former uses
native Lua tables.

If the cache hit rate is relatively high, you should use the `resty.lrucache`
class which is faster than `resty.lrucache.pureffi`.

However, if the cache hit rate is relatively low and there can be a *lot* of
variations of keys inserted into and removed from the cache, then you should
use the `resty.lrucache.pureffi` instead, because Lua tables are not good at
removing keys frequently. You would likely see the `resizetab` function call in
the LuaJIT runtime being very hot in [on-CPU flame
graphs](https://github.com/openresty/stapxx#lj-lua-stacks) if you use the
`resty.lrucache` class instead of `resty.lrucache.pureffi` in such a use case.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Methods
=======

To load this library,

1. use an official [OpenResty release](https://openresty.org) or follow the
   [Installation](#installation) instructions.
2. use `require` to load the library into a local Lua variable:

```lua
local lrucache = require "resty.lrucache"
```

or

```lua
local lrucache = require "resty.lrucache.pureffi"
```

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

new
---
`syntax: cache, err = lrucache.new(max_items [, load_factor])`

Creates a new cache instance. Upon failure, returns `nil` and a string
describing the error.

The `max_items` argument specifies the maximal number of items this cache can
hold.

The `load-factor` argument designates the "load factor" of the FFI-based
hash-table used internally by `resty.lrucache.pureffi`; the default value is
0.5 (i.e. 50%); if the load factor is specified, it will be clamped to the
range of `[0.1, 1]` (i.e. if load factor is greater than 1, it will be
saturated to 1; likewise, if load-factor is smaller than `0.1`, it will be
clamped to `0.1`). This argument is only meaningful for
`resty.lrucache.pureffi`.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

set
---
`syntax: cache:set(key, value, ttl?, flags?)`

Sets a key with a value and an expiration time.

When the cache is full, the cache will automatically evict the least recently
used item.

The optional `ttl` argument specifies the expiration time. The time value is in
seconds, but you can also specify the fraction number part (e.g. `0.25`). A nil
`ttl` argument means the value would never expire (which is the default).

The optional `flags` argument specifies a user flags value associated with the
item to be stored. It can be retrieved later with the item. The user flags are
stored as an unsigned 32-bit integer internally, and thus must be specified as
a Lua number. If not specified, flags will have a default value of `0`. This
argument was added in the `v0.10` release.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

get
---
`syntax: data, stale_data, flags = cache:get(key)`

Fetches a value with the key. If the key does not exist in the cache or has
already expired, `nil` will be returned.

Starting from `v0.03`, the stale data is also returned as the second return
value if available.

Starting from `v0.10`, the user flags value associated with the stored item is
also returned as the third return value. If no user flags were given to an
item, its default flags will be `0`.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

delete
------
`syntax: cache:delete(key)`

Removes an item specified by the key from the cache.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

count
-----
`syntax: count = cache:count()`

Returns the number of items currently stored in the cache **including**
expired items if any.

The returned `count` value will always be greater or equal to 0 and smaller
than or equal to the `size` argument given to [`cache:new`](#new).

This method was added in the `v0.10` release.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

capacity
--------
`syntax: size = cache:capacity()`

Returns the maximum number of items the cache can hold. The return value is the
same as the `size` argument given to [`cache:new`](#new) when the cache was
created.

This method was added in the `v0.10` release.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

get_keys
--------
`syntax: keys = cache:get_keys(max_count?, res?)`

Fetch the list of keys currently inside the cache up to `max_count`. The keys
will be ordered in MRU fashion (Most-Recently-Used keys first).

This function returns a Lua (array) table (with integer keys) containing the
keys.

When `max_count` is `nil` or `0`, all keys (if any) will be returned.

When provided with a `res` table argument, this function will not allocate a
table and will instead insert the keys in `res`, along with a trailing `nil`
value.

This method was added in the `v0.10` release.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

flush_all
---------
`syntax: cache:flush_all()`

Flushes all the existing data (if any) in the current cache instance. This is
an `O(1)` operation and should be much faster than creating a brand new cache
instance.

Note however that the `flush_all()` method of `resty.lrucache.pureffi` is an
`O(n)` operation.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Prerequisites
=============

* [LuaJIT](http://luajit.org) 2.0+
* [ngx_lua](https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module) 0.8.10+

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Installation
============

It is recommended to use the latest [OpenResty release](https://openresty.org).
At least OpenResty 1.4.2.9 is required. Recent versions of OpenResty only
support LuaJIT, but if you are using an older version, make sure to enable
LuaJIT when building OpenResty by passing the `--with-luajit` option to its
`./configure` script. No extra Nginx configuration is required.

If you want to use this library with your own Nginx build (with ngx_lua), then
you need to ensure you are using ngx_lua 0.8.10 or greater.

By default, ngx_lua will search Lua files in /usr/local/share/lua/5.1/.
But `make install` will install this module to /usr/local/lib/lua.
So you may find the error like this:

```text
nginx: [alert] failed to load the 'resty.lrucache' module
```

You can install this module with the following command to resolve the above problem.

```bash
cd lua-resty-lrucache
sudo make install LUA_LIB_DIR=/usr/local/share/lua/5.1
```

You can also change the installation directory to any other directory you like with the LUA_LIB_DIR argument.

```bash
cd lua-resty-lrucache
sudo make install LUA_LIB_DIR=/opt/nginx/lualib
```

When not installed in /usr/local/share/lua/5.1, you also need to configure the
[lua_package_path](https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module#lua_package_path)
directive to add the path to your lua-resty-lrucache source tree to ngx_lua's
Lua module search path, as in:

```nginx
# nginx.conf

    http {
        lua_package_path "/opt/nginx/lualib/?.lua;;";
        ...
    }
```

and then load the library in Lua:

```lua
local lrucache = require "resty.lrucache"
```

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Community
=========

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

English Mailing List
--------------------

The [openresty-en](https://groups.google.com/group/openresty-en) mailing list
is for English speakers.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Chinese Mailing List
--------------------

The [openresty](https://groups.google.com/group/openresty) mailing list is for
Chinese speakers.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Bugs and Patches
================

Please report bugs or submit patches by

1. creating a ticket on the [GitHub Issue
   Tracker](https://github.com/openresty/lua-resty-lrucache/issues),
1. or posting to the [OpenResty community](#community).

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Author
======

Yichun "agentzh" Zhang (章亦春) <agentzh@gmail.com>, OpenResty Inc.

Shuxin Yang.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

Copyright and License
=====================

This module is licensed under the BSD license.

Copyright (C) 2014-2019, by Yichun "agentzh" Zhang, OpenResty Inc.

Copyright (C) 2014-2017, by Shuxin Yang.

All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)

See Also
========

* OpenResty: https://openresty.org
* the ngx_http_lua module: https://github.com/openresty/lua-nginx-module
* the ngx_stream_lua module: https://github.com/openresty/stream-lua-nginx-module
* the lua-resty-core library: https://github.com/openresty/lua-resty-core

[Back to TOC](#table-of-contents)