zcached - A Lightweight In-Memory Cache System

Welcome to zcached, a nimble and efficient in-memory caching system resembling databases like Redis. This README acts as a comprehensive guide, aiding in comprehension, setup, and optimal utilization.

Introduction

zcached aims to offer rapid, in-memory caching akin to widely-used databases such as Redis. Its focus lies in user-friendliness, efficiency, and agility, making it suitable for various applications requiring swift data retrieval and storage.

Crafted using Zig, a versatile, modern, compiled programming language, zcached prides itself on a zero-dependency architecture. This unique feature enables seamless compilation and execution across systems equipped with a Zig compiler, ensuring exceptional portability and deployment ease.

Features

Zero-Dependency Architecture: Entirely built using Zig, ensuring seamless execution across systems with a Zig compiler, enhancing portability.
Lightweight Design: Engineered for efficiency, zcached boasts a small memory footprint and minimal CPU usage, optimizing performance while conserving resources.
Optimized Efficiency: Prioritizing swift data handling, zcached ensures prompt operations to cater to diverse application needs.
Diverse Data Type Support: Accommodates various data structures like strings, integers, floats, and lists, enhancing utility across different use cases.
Evented I/O and Multithreading: Leveraging evented I/O mechanisms and multithreading capabilities, zcached efficiently manages concurrent operations, enhancing responsiveness and scalability.

Usage

While zcached lacks a CLI, you can utilize nc (netcat) from the terminal to send commands to the server.

SET

Set a key to hold the string value. If key already holds a value, it is overwritten, regardless of its type.

echo "*3\r\n\$3\r\nSET\r\n\$9\r\nmycounter\r\n:42\r\n" | netcat -N localhost 7556

echo "*3\r\n\$3\r\nSET\r\n\$9\r\nmycounter\r\n%2\r\n+first\r\n:1\r\n+second\r\n:2\r\n" | netcat -N localhost 7556

Command Breakdown:

*3\r\n - number of elements in the array (commands are always arrays)
\$3\r\nSET\r\n - $3 denotes the following string as 3 bytes long, SET is the command
\$9\r\nmycounter\r\n - $9 means that the next string is 9 bytes long, mycounter is the key
:42\r\n - : indicates the next string is a number, 42 is the value

GET

Retrieve the value of a key. If the key doesn’t exist, -not found is returned. GET only accepts strings as keys.

echo "*2\r\n\$3\r\nGET\r\n\$9\r\nmycounter\r\n" | netcat -N localhost 7556

PING

Returns PONG. This command is often used to test if a connection is still alive, or to measure latency.

echo "*1\r\n$4\r\nPING\r\n" | netcat -N localhost 7556

Running Tests

Run the tests using zig in the root directory of the project:

zig test src/test.zig -lc

Documentation

For release history, see the release_history.md
For building/installation process please refer to the installation.md
For supported types and their encodings, see the types.md
For supported commands, see the commands.md

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

sectasy0/zcached