Redis in Node.js 2024

In this aricle, we will take a look at how to add redis caching to your production level node.js code to make it more performant.

For data that is frequently needed or retrieved by app users, a cache would serve as a temporary data store for quick and fast retrieval without the need for extra database round trips. Reference

• Redis can be used as a cache mechanism
• Redis can be used as a persistent storage space.

Installation

To install Redis on our local machines, we can download the latest binaries available

First, extract the zip file, then install redis-server.exe. You can also run the redis-cli.
On your redis-cli you can set executables

- set name Elon Musk

- get name

Note: You must always turn on your redis-server

Nodejs

Initialize your project

In your project directory, navigate to the terminal and run the following commands:

mkdir server
cd server
npm run init -y
npm install express node-fetch redis

Redis Client

• Import the package and create an instance
• Set a Redis port
• Create and connect a Redis Client

// src/index.js

import { createClient } from "redis/dist/index.js";

const app = express();

app.use(express.json())



// redis port
const REDIS_PORT = 6379;

// create redis client
export const client = createClient();

(async () => { 

    await client.on('error', err => console.log('Error ' + err));

    await client.connect(); 

})();


const getRepos = async (req, res) => {
    let {username} = req.params
    let result;

    try{
        // use the key to get data from the cache
        const cachedData = await client.get("new key");

        // If data exists in the cache, return it
        if(cachedData) {
            result = JSON.parse(cachedData);
        }  else {

            result = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/users/${username}`);

            console.log(result)

            if (result?.length === 0 || !result) {
                return res.status(200).send("API returned an empty array");
            }

            // set data to redis
            await client.set("cachedData", JSON.stringify(result));
        }

        res.status(200).json(result);

    } catch(error) {
        console.error(error);
        res.status(404).send("Data unavailable");
    }

}



app.get("/repos/:username", getRepos);


app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`server is listening on ${PORT}`)
})

After adding redis to your code, the time taken to make a request to your API is significantly cut down.

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