Spring 3.1: Caching and EhCache

If you look around the web for examples of using Spring 3.1’s built in caching then you’ll usually bump into Spring’s SimpleCacheManager, which the Guys at Spring say is “Useful for testing or simple caching declarations”. I actually prefer to think of SimpleCacheManager as lightweight rather than simple; useful in those situations where you want a small in memory cache on a per JVM basis. If the Guys at Spring were running a supermarket then SimpleCacheManagerwould be in their own brand ‘basics’ product range.

If, on the other hand, you need a heavy duty cache, one that’s scalable, persistent and distributed, then Spring also comes with a built in ehCache wrapper.