Does Python Requests Cache?
Yes, Python Requests module does cache responses by default to make subsequent requests faster and more efficient.
How Does Caching Work in Python Requests?
When a request is made, Python Requests checks if the response is already cached with the same URL and parameters. If yes, the cached response is returned instead of making a new request to the server. If no cache is found, Python Requests makes a new request and caches the response for future use.
What are the Advantages of Caching?
- Caching can save time and resources by avoiding unnecessary requests to the server.
- Caching can improve performance by reducing latency and network traffic.
- Caching can help with offline usage by allowing previously fetched resources to be used even when a network connection is not available.
How to Disable Caching in Python Requests?
If caching is not desired for a particular request, it can be disabled using the cache_control parameter:
import requests
response = requests.get('https://example.com', headers={'cache-control': 'no-cache'})
print(response)
The above code sets the cache-control header to 'no-cache', which tells Python Requests not to use the cache for this request.
Caching can also be disabled globally for all requests by setting the max-age to zero:
import requests
requests_cache.install_cache('example_cache', expire_after=0)
response = requests.get('https://example.com')
print(response)
The above code sets the expire_after parameter to zero, which means that all cached responses will have expired immediately. As a result, Python Requests will not use the cache for any requests.