bpo-44310: Add a FAQ entry for caching method calls (GH-26731)

1 files changed, 97 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/faq/programming.rst b/Doc/faq/programming.rst
index 921357d..a519275 100644
--- a/Doc/faq/programming.rst
+++ b/Doc/faq/programming.rst
@@ -1826,6 +1826,103 @@ For example, here is the implementation of
                 return True
         return False
 
+How do I cache method calls?
+----------------------------
+
+The two principal tools for caching methods are
+:func:`functools.cached_property` and :func:`functools.lru_cache`.  The
+former stores results at the instance level and the latter at the class
+level.
+
+The *cached_property* approach only works with methods that do not take
+any arguments.  It does not create a reference to the instance.  The
+cached method result will be kept only as long as the instance is alive.
+
+The advantage is that when an instance is not longer used, the cached
+method result will be released right away.  The disadvantage is that if
+instances accumulate, so too will the accumulated method results.  They
+can grow without bound.
+
+The *lru_cache* approach works with methods that have hashable
+arguments.  It creates a reference to the instance unless special
+efforts are made to pass in weak references.
+
+The advantage of the least recently used algorithm is that the cache is
+bounded by the specified *maxsize*.  The disadvantage is that instances
+are kept alive until they age out of the cache or until the cache is
+cleared.
+
+To avoid keeping an instance alive, it can be wrapped a weak reference
+proxy.  That allows an instance to be freed prior aging out of the LRU
+cache.  That said, the weak reference technique is rarely needed.  It is
+only helpful when the instances hold large amounts of data and the
+normal aging-out process isn't fast enough.  And even though the
+instance is released early, the cache still keeps references to the
+other method arguments and to the result of the method call.
+
+This example shows the various techniques::
+
+    class Weather:
+        "Lookup weather information on a government website"
+
+        def __init__(self, station_id):
+            self._station_id = station_id
+            # The _station_id is private and immutable
+
+        def current_temperature(self):
+            "Latest hourly observation"
+            # Do not cache this because old results
+            # can be out of date.
+
+        @cached_property
+        def location(self):
+            "Return the longitude/latitude coordinates of the station"
+            # Result only depends on the station_id
+
+        @lru_cache(maxsize=20)
+        def historic_rainfall(self, date, units='mm'):
+            "Rainfall on a given date"
+            # Depends on the station_id, date, and units.
+
+        def climate(self, category='average_temperature'):
+            "List of daily average temperatures for a full year"
+            return self._climate(weakref.proxy(self), category)
+
+        @staticmethod
+        @lru_cache(maxsize=10)
+        def _climate(self_proxy, category):
+            # Depends on a weak reference to the instance
+            # and on the category parameter.
+
+The above example assumes that the *station_id* never changes.  If the
+relevant instance attributes are mutable, the *cached_property* approach
+can't be made to work because it cannot detect changes to the
+attributes.
+
+The *lru_cache* approach can be made to work, but the class needs to define the
+*__eq__* and *__hash__* methods so the cache can detect relevant attribute
+updates::
+
+    class Weather:
+        "Example with a mutable station identifier"
+
+        def __init__(self, station_id):
+            self.station_id = station_id
+
+        def change_station(self, station_id):
+            self.station_id = station_id
+
+        def __eq__(self, other):
+            return self.station_id == other.station_id
+
+        def __hash__(self):
+            return hash(self.station_id)
+
+        @lru_cache(maxsize=20)
+        def historic_rainfall(self, date, units='cm'):
+            'Rainfall on a given date'
+            # Depends on the station_id, date, and units.
+
 
 Modules
 =======