memecache

Overview

A minimal, thread-safe caching library built entirely in C++ using the Standard Template Library — no external dependencies, no bloat. Supports multiple cache eviction policies and can extend custom eviction policies through a clean abstract interface.

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Eviction Policies

The library implements common cache replacement strategies:

• FIFO — First-In/First-Out
• LIFO — Last-In/First-Out
• LRU — Least Recently Used

An exhaustive list of cache algorithms for reference: Wikipedia — Cache Algorithms.

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Thread Safety

The library is thread-safe by design — multiple threads can perform concurrent

and operations on the same cache instance without external synchronization. Internally uses std::mutex to guard shared state, with std::lock_guard for RAII-style lock management.

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Custom Policies

To implement a custom eviction policy, include the

header containing the ICachePolicy abstract interface and override four methods:

• Insert(const Key& key)
  — handles element insertion
• Touch(const Key& key)
  — handles cache hit / access
• Erase(const Key& key)
  — handles deletion
• ReplacementCandidate()
  — returns the key to evict

The design prioritized correctness and simplicity over feature count. Every line of code has a reason to exist — a deliberate exercise in systems-level thinking: understanding memory layout, cache coherence implications, and the cost of abstraction in performance-critical code.