Integrated JSP and command cache for web applications with dynamic content

• US 20040073630A1
• Filed: 12/18/2000
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Copeland, George P., Flurry, Gregory A., Conner, Michael H.
• Granted Patent: US 6,877,025 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed, according to which, the responsiveness of client/server-based distributed web applications operating in an object-oriented environment may be improved by storing both JSPs and commands in the same cache. Some of the code and data structures required for caching JSPs are the same as for commands, and are saved in a common area of the cache. A second area of the cache is reserved for code and data specific to JSPs, and a third area is reserved for code and data specific to commands. This arrangement avoids the difficulty of judiciously apportioning the available cache between JSPs and commands.

Claims

1. A software system supporting distributed web applications between a client and a server, wherein the software system comprises:

commands, comprising executable code and associated data;

server pages, comprising executable code and associated data; and

a common cache within the server, comprising;

a first portion, in which code and data associated with commands may be stored;

a second portion, in which code and data associated with server pages may be stored; and

a third portion, in which code and data associated with either commands or server pages may be stored.

2. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein commands and server pages may be requested by the client.

3. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein commands and server pages may execute in the server.

4. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein the cache has an associated cache ID, and code and data associated with commands or server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache comprises a hash table, which maps cache IDs onto cache entries.

5. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein code and data associated with commands or server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a Least Recently Used (LRU) mechanism, which defines how long commands and server pages may remain in the cache without being requested by the client, before being removed.

6. The software system as recited in claim 5, wherein code and data associated with commands or server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a list of data IDs corresponding to data records upon which said commands or server pages are dependent.

7. The software system as recited in claim 6, wherein code and data associated with commands or server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a mutex mechanism, which may allow a web application exclusive access to said commands or server pages.

8. The software system as recited in claim 7, wherein code and data associated with commands or server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises cluster services, which are used by the server to send messages to other servers.

9. The software system as recited in claim 8, wherein code and data associated with commands and server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a pin mechanism, which prevents said commands and server pages from being removed from the common cache by the LRU mechanism.

10. The software system as recited in claim 9, wherein code and data associated with commands and server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a time limit, which defines how long said commands and server pages may remain in the cache before being updated.

11. The software system as recited in claim 10, wherein code and data associated with commands and server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprises a batch update mechanism, which globally updates or invalidates a plurality of commands or server pages in the common cache.

12. The software system as recited in claim 11, wherein associated with each of the commands and server pages within the cache is a unique template, and wherein code and data associated with an commands and server pages stored in the third portion of the common cache further comprise a list of template dependencies, which matches commands and server pages in the cache with their templates.

13. The software system as recited in claim 1, further comprising an object-oriented software system.

14. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein the server comprises a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

15. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein server pages comprise Java Server Pages (JSPs).

16. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein requested commands not found in the cache of the server may be requested from a second server.

17. The software system as recited in claim 16, wherein requested commands not found in the cache of the second server are executed by the second server, stored in its cache, and returned to the first server.

18. The software system as recited in claim 1, wherein requested server pages not found in the cache of the first server may be requested from the second server.

19. The software system as recited in claim 18, wherein requested server pages not found in the cache of the second server are executed by the second server, stored in its cache, and returned it to the first server.

20. A method for storing executable code and data associated with commands and server pages in a common cache, comprising:

allocating a first portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with commands may be stored;

allocating a second portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with server pages may be stored; and

allocating a third portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated with both commands and server pages may be stored.

21. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein server pages comprise Java Server Pages (JSPs).

22. A computer product, comprising a web server and a software system, wherein the web server includes a processor, memory, mass storage and a network interface, and the software system is adapted to permit storing executable code and data associated with commands and server pages in a common cache.

23. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in storing executable code and data associated with commands and server pages in a common cache, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for allocating a first portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with commands may be stored;

instructions for allocating a second portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with server pages may be stored; and

instructions for allocating a third portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated with both commands and server pages may be stored

24. A system including processor and memory for storing executable code and data associated with commands and server pages in a command cache, comprising:

a common cache;

means for allocating a first portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with commands may be stored;

means for allocating a second portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated only with server pages may be stored; and

means for allocating a third portion of the common cache, in which code and data associated with both commands and server pages may be stored