AutoCache

AutoCache is an experimental Python package that automatically adds in-memory caching to public synchronous functions in the current Python script.

Instead of manually adding a cache decorator to every function, define your functions and call enable() once.

AutoCache v0.1 is an experimental alpha release. It is intended for testing, learning and feedback rather than production applications.

Installation

pip install autocache

Basic usage

import autocache

def expensive_calculation(number):
    print("Calculating...")
    return number ** 2

# Call enable only after defining the functions.
autocache.enable()

print(expensive_calculation(10))  # Cache miss
print(expensive_calculation(10))  # Cache hit

How it works

AutoCache scans public synchronous functions defined in the current __main__ module and replaces them with cached wrappers.

Function arguments are serialized and hashed to generate cache keys. Results are stored in memory for the lifetime of the Python process.

Current limitations

AutoCache v0.1:

• Uses an in-memory cache
• Scans only functions available when enable() is called
• Does not cache asynchronous functions
• Does not cache generator functions
• Does not persist results between program executions
• Has no expiration or maximum cache size
• Should not be used with functions that perform side effects
• Should not be used for database writes, file writes, payments or messages

Important warning

Only cache functions whose output depends completely on their arguments.

Do not automatically cache functions that:

• Modify files or databases
• Send emails or messages
• Generate random values
• Read frequently changing external data
• Depend on time, global variables or environment state

Version

Current version: 0.1

License

AutoCache is released under the MIT License.