[wp-hackers] Caching as part of the core

[Erick Hitter]

Almong,

Personally, I don't want to see a persistent object cache back in Core.
That's what transients are for. They offer the DB-style caching found in
Drupal, but once a persistent caching plugin (such as either you mentioned,
or Memcached Object Cache, etc.) is enabled, the database is no longer
relied upon.

Considering the widely-varied server configurations WordPress runs on, I
think it's foolish to bloat Core with such a thing. There are too many
different ways to implement persistent caching, all of which depend on
server capabilities, for this to be a good idea. It's up to the individuals
behind a given site to make these decisions, and I feel that's exactly the
way it should be.

As a developer, the onus is rightly on me to select and implement caching
appropriately. If I'm writing a plugin or theme for the public repository,
I might choose transients if caching is warranted. Conversely, if I'm
coding something for an environment that I know does and always will have a
persistent object cache, I'll utilize that caching system. Context really
is the overriding factor here.

I do agree that plugin and theme authors ought to be better about building
caching into their code, but understanding when it helps and when it
hinders is just as important. Caching for sake of its presence alone
benefits no one.

Erick
On Jul 19, 2012 6:36 AM, "Almog Baku" <almog.baku at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey wordpressers!
> As a continue to "[wp-hackers] Author URLs expose usernames", we discuss
> about adding the caching option to the core. so I think this subject must
> be discuss in a separated subject.
> ------------
>
>
> *Why the caching system should be part of the core?*
>
>    1. The common wordpress user(website owner/setup the website) doesn't
>    know the priority of caching.
>    2. The common user wouln't install any third-part plugin that he can't
>    actually see.. he doesn't realize backend meaning.. he realize thing he
> can
>    see- like themes and beautiful galleries plugins.
>    3. Caching system improve SEO, user-end satisfaction, best performance,
>    and of course loading speed.
>    4. It will force the developers to develop plugins who support caching,
>    and it will cache the result from the beginning of the site building
>    process.. and not only the output.
>    5. It will offer simpler configuration and safer way to non-techies
> user.
>    6. Third-party plugins are something unsafty, we can't offer the user
>    something with huge weight as third-party application.
>
> *
> Why it shouldn't be part of the core?*
>
>    1. There is too many plugins who hurt from this decision.
>    2. There is too many ways to cache website.
>    3. This is very large issue. it will influence about all the wordpress
>    plugins and the core.
>
> *Samples from DRUPAL*
> Drupal for example implements caching system as part of the core.
> You can enable/disable/configure the caching inside the administration.
> The cache system is caching a objects inside the DB(like menu, theme, hooks
> configurations) and cache and minify the pages and theme files.
> There is also modules for drupal who make the caching much more effective
> and cache static pages.. but the simple and basic cacing is made by the
> core.
>
> *Today plugins for wordpress:*
> There are two popular plugins for wordpres who manage the caching:
>
>    1. WP Super Cache <http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/>
>    2. W3 Total Cache <http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/>
>
>
> ~ Almog
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