34.6. Working with the Application Cache

ASP.NET provides a second and more flexible way to handle application-wide data. As you recall, the values within the HttpApplicationState object remain in memory as long as your web application is alive and kicking. Sometimes, however, you may want to maintain a piece of application data only for a specific period of time. For example, you may wish to obtain an ADO.NET DataSet that is valid for only five minutes. After that time, you may want to obtain a fresh DataSet to account for possible database updates. While it's technically possible to build this infrastructure using HttpApplicationState and some sort of handcrafted monitor, the ASP.NET application cache greatly simplifies your task.

As its name ...

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