Tutorial
How To Deploy an Express Application and Scale with MemCachier on DigitalOcean App Platform
The author selected the Free and Open Source Fund to receive a donation as part of the Write for DOnations program.
Introduction
Express is a popular framework for building fast web apps and APIs with Node. DigitalOcean’s App Platform is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product to configure and deploy applications from a code repository. It offers a quick and efficient way to deploy your Express app. In this tutorial, you’ll deploy an Express application to DigitalOcean App Platform and then scale it by adding caching with the DigitalOcean Marketplace Add-On for MemCachier. MemCachier is compliant with the memcached object caching system but has several advantages, such as better failure scenarios with high availability clusters.
You’ll first build an Express app that calculates a prime number, has a Like button, and uses a template engine. Those features will enable you to implement several caching strategies later. You’ll then push your app’s code to GitHub and deploy it on App Platform. Finally, you’ll implement three object caching techniques to make your app faster and more scalable. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to deploy an Express application to App Platform, implementing techniques for caching resource-intensive computations, rendered views, and sessions.
Prerequisites
- Node.js installed on your machine, which you can setup with How To Install Node.js on Ubuntu 22.04. On other operating systems, follow the appropriate guide on How To Install Node.js and Create a Local Development Environment.
- A basic Express server with Node.js. Follow Steps 1-2 in our tutorial on How To Get Started with Node.js and Express.
- A GitHub account and Git installed on your local machine. These are necessary as you’ll push the code to GitHub to deploy from DigitalOcean App Platform. You can follow our tutorial on How To Install Git to get set up.
- A DigitalOcean account for deploying to App Platform. Running this app on App Platform will incur a charge. See App Platform Pricing for details.
- A web browser like Firefox or Chrome.
- An understanding of Express template engines.
- An understanding of Express middleware. You can read more about this topic in our tutorial, How To Create a Custom Middleware in Express.js.
Step 1 — Setting Up an Express Template Rendered View
In this step, you’ll install a template engine for Express, create a template for your app’s home route (GET /), and update the route to use that template. A template engine enables you to cache rendered views later, increasing the speed of request handling and decreasing resource use.
To start, navigate to the project directory of the Express server with your editor if it is not already open. You can return to the prerequisite tutorial on How To Get Started with Node.js and Express to identify where you have saved your project files.
You will install a template engine for Express to use static template files in your application. A template engine replaces variables in a template file with values and transforms the template into an HTML file, which is sent as the response to a request. Using templates makes it easier to work with HTML.
Install the Embedded JavaScript templates (ejs) library. If you prefer, you could use one of the other template engines that Express supports, like Mustache, Pug, or Nunjucks.
- npm install ejs
With ejs now installed, you will configure your Express app to use it.
Open the file server.js in your editor. Then, add the highlighted line:
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Successful response.');
});
...
This line sets the application setting property view engine to ejs.
Save the file.
Note: For this tutorial, you will use the view engine setting, but another useful setting is views. The views setting tells an Express app where to find template files. The default value is ./views.
Next, create a views directory. Then, create the file views/index.ejs and open it in your editor.
Add the starting template markup to that file:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Find the largest prime number</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Find the largest prime number</h1>
<p>
For any number N, find the largest prime number less than or equal to N.
</p>
</body>
</html>
Save the file.
With the template created, you will update your route to use it.
Open the file server.js and update the highlighted code:
...
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.render('index');
});
...
The response render method takes the name of a template as its first parameter. In this case, index matches the file views/index.ejs.
Restart your app to load the changes. Stop the server if it’s running by pressing CTRL+C in your terminal. Then start the server again:
- node server.js
Visit localhost:3000 in your web browser, which will now display the contents of your template.
Your app now has a template-rendered view, but it doesn’t do anything yet. You’ll add functionality to find a prime number next.
Step 2 — Adding Functionality to Your Express App
In this step, you’ll add the features to find a prime number and to like numbers using a Like button. You’ll use these features to interact with the app once you have deployed to App Platform in Step 4.
Finding a Prime Number
In this section, you’ll add a function to your app that finds the largest prime number less than or equal to N, where N refers to any number.
N will be submitted via a form with the GET method to the home route (/), with N appended as a query parameter: localhost:3000/?n=10 (where 10 is a sample query). The home route can have multiple URLs that produce rendered views, which can each be cached individually.
In views/index.ejs, add a form with an input element for entering N:
...
<p>
For any number N, find the largest prime number less than or equal to N.
</p>
<form action="/" method="get">
<label>
N
<input type="number" name="n" placeholder="e.g. 10" required>
</label>
<button>Find Prime</button>
</form>
...
The form’s action submits to /, which is handled by the home route app.get('/' ...) in server.js. As the form’s method is set to get, the data n will be appended to the action URL as a query parameter.
Save the file.
Next, when a request is made with a query parameter of n, you’ll pass that data to the template.
In server.js, add the highlighted code:
...
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.render('index');
return;
}
const locals = { n };
res.render('index', locals);
});
...
These lines will check if the request has a query parameter named n. If so, you render the index view and pass the value of n to it. Otherwise, you generate the index view without data.
Note: User input cannot always be trusted, so the best practice for a production-ready app would be to validate the input with a library such as Joi.
The render method has a second optional parameter, locals. This parameter defines local variables passed to a template to render a view. A shorthand property name defines the n property of the locals object. When a variable has the same name as the object property it’s being assigned to, the variable name can be omitted. So { n: n } can be written as { n }.
Save the file.
Now that the template has some data, you can display it.
In views/index.ejs, add the highlighted lines to display the value of N:
...
<form action="/" method="get">
<label>
N
<input type="number" name="n" placeholder="e.g. 10" required>
</label>
<button>Find Prime</button>
</form>
<% if (locals.n) { %>
<p>N: <%= n %></p>
<% } %>
...
If a local variable n exists for this view, you tell the app to display it.
Save the file, then restart your server to refresh the app. The form will now load with a button to Find Prime. The app will be able to accept user input and display it under the form.
Submit any number to the form. After submitting the form, the URL will change to include an n query parameter, such as http://localhost:3000/?n=40 if you put in 40. The value you submitted will also load under the form as N: 40.
Now that a value for N can be submitted and displayed, you’ll add a function to find the largest prime number less than or equal to N. Then, you’ll display that result in your view.
Create a utils directory. Then, create the file utils/findPrime.js.
Open findPrime.js in your editor and add the prime number finding function:
/**
* Find the largest prime number less than or equal to `n`
* @param {number} n A positive integer greater than the smallest prime number, 2
* @returns {number}
*/
module.exports = function (n) {
let prime = 2; // initialize with the smallest prime number
for (let i = n; i > 1; i--) {
let isPrime = true;
for (let j = 2; j < i; j++) {
if (i % j == 0) {
isPrime = false;
break;
}
}
if (isPrime) {
prime = i;
break;
}
}
return prime;
};
A JSDoc comment documents the function. The algorithm starts with the first prime number (2), then loops through numbers, starting at n and decrementing the number by 1 in each loop. The function will continue looping and searching for a prime number until the number is 2, the smallest prime number.
Each loop assumes the current number is a prime number, then tests that assumption. It will check if the current number has a factor other than 1 and itself. If the current number can be divided by any number greater than 1 and less than itself without a remainder, then it is not a prime number. The function will then try the next number.
Save the file.
Next, import the find prime function into server.js:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
...
Update your home route controller to find a prime number and pass its value to the template. Still in server.js, add the highlighted code:
...
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.render('index');
return;
}
const prime = findPrime(n);
const locals = { n, prime };
res.render('index', locals);
});
...
Save the file.
Now, you will add code to display the result in your template. In views/index.ejs, display the value of N:
...
<form action="/" method="get">
<label>
N
<input type="number" name="n" placeholder="e.g. 10" required>
</label>
<button>Find Prime</button>
</form>
<% if (locals.n && locals.prime) { %>
<p>
The largest prime number less than or equal to <%= n %> is <strong><%= prime %></strong>.
</p>
<% } %>
...
Save the file.
Now restart the server.
To test the functionality, submit any number. As an example, this tutorial will use 10. If you submit the number 10, you will receive a response stating, The largest prime number less than or equal to 10 is 7..
Your app can now take a number, then find and display a prime number. Next, you’ll add a Like button.
Adding a Like Button
Currently, your app can produce different views based on each number N submitted. Apart from updating text, the content of those views is likely to stay the same. The Like button you’ll add in this section will provide a way to update the content of a view. This button demonstrates the need for invalidating a cached view when its contents change, which will be beneficial when caching rendered views later in the tutorial.
With a Like button, the app needs somewhere to store the like data. While persistent storage is ideal, you will store likes in memory because implementing a database is beyond the scope of this tutorial. As such, the data will be ephemeral, which means all data will be lost when the server stops.
Open server.js to add the following variable:
...
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
/**
* Key is `n`
* Value is the number of 'likes' for `n`
*/
const likesMap = {};
...
The likesMap object is used as a map to store likes for all requested numbers. The key is n, and its values are the number of likes for n.
Likes for a number need to be initialized when a number is submitted. Still in the server.js, add the highlighted lines to initialize likes for N:
...
const prime = findPrime(n);
// Initialize likes for this number when necessary
if (!likesMap[n]) likesMap[n] = 0;
const locals = { n, prime };
res.render('index', locals);
...
This if statement checks if likes for the current number exist. If no likes are present, then the likesMaps number initializes to 0.
Next, add likes as a local variable for the view:
...
const prime = findPrime(n);
// Initialize likes for this number when necessary
if (!likesMap[n]) likesMap[n] = 0;
const locals = { n, prime, likes: likesMap[n] };
res.render('index', locals);
...
Save the file.
Now that the view has data for likes, you can display its value and add a Like button.
In views/index.ejs, add the Like button markup:
...
<% if (locals.n && locals.prime) { %>
<p>
The largest prime number less than or equal to <%= n %> is <strong><%= prime %></strong>.
</p>
<form action="/like" method="get">
<input type="hidden" name="n" value="<%= n %>">
<input type="submit" value="Like"> <%= likes %>
</form>
<% } %>
...
Your completed file should now match the following:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Find the largest prime number</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Find the largest prime number</h1>
<p>
For any number N, find the largest prime number less than or equal to N.
</p>
<form action="/" method="get">
<label>
N
<input type="number" name="n" placeholder="e.g. 10" required>
</label>
<button>Find Prime</button>
</form>
<% if (locals.n && locals.prime) { %>
<p>
The largest prime number less than or equal to <%= n %> is <strong><%= prime %></strong>.
</p>
<form action="/like" method="get">
<input type="hidden" name="n" value="<%= n %>">
<input type="submit" value="Like"> <%= likes %>
</form>
<% } %>
</body>
</html>
Save the file.
Restart the server, then submit a number. A Like button will appear after the prime number result with a like count of 0.
Clicking the Like button sends a GET request to /like, with the current value of N as a query parameter via a hidden input. For now, you’ll receive a 404 error with Cannot GET /like, because your app does not yet have a corresponding route.
You’ll now add the route to handle the request.
Back in server.js, add the route:
...
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
...
});
app.get('/like', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.redirect('/');
return;
}
likesMap[n]++;
res.redirect(`/?n=${n}`);
});
...
This new route checks if n exists. If not, it redirects home. Otherwise, it increments likes for this number. Finally, it redirects to the view where the Like button was clicked.
Your completed file should now match the following:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
/**
* Key is `n`
* Value is the number of 'likes' for `n`
*/
const likesMap = {};
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.render('index');
return;
}
const prime = findPrime(n);
// Initialize likes for this number when necessary
if (!likesMap[n]) likesMap[n] = 0;
const locals = { n, prime, likes: likesMap[n] };
res.render('index', locals);
});
app.get('/like', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.redirect('/');
return;
}
likesMap[n]++;
res.redirect(`/?n=${n}`);
});
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, () =>
console.log(`Example app is listening on port ${port}.`)
);
Save the file.
Restart the app and test the Like button again. The likes count will increment for each click.
Note: You could also use the POST method instead of GET for this route. It would be more RESTful because an update is made to a resource. This tutorial uses GET rather than introducing form POST request body handling so that you can work with the now familiar request query parameters.
Your app is now complete with fully functioning features, so you can prepare to deploy it to App Platform. In the next step, you’ll commit the app’s code with git and push that code to GitHub.
Step 3 — Creating Your Code Repository
In this step, you will create a code repository to hold all the files for your deployment. First, you will commit your code to git, and then you will push it to a GitHub repository. You will use this repository to deploy with App Platform.
Committing Your Code to Git
In this section, you’ll commit your code to git, so it’s ready to push to GitHub.
Note: If you have not configured your settings with your username, be sure to set up Git and authenticate your GitHub account with SSH.
First, initialize a git repository:
- git init
Next, tell Git to exclude your app’s dependencies. Create a new file called .gitignore and add the following:
node_modules
# macOS file
.DS_Store
Note: The .DS_Store line is specific to macOS and does not need to be present for other operating systems.
Save and close the file.
Now, add all files to git:
- git add .
Finally, commit those changes with the following command:
- git commit -m "Initial commit"
The -m option is used to specify the commit message, which you can update with whatever message you wish.
After committing your code, you’ll receive an output like so:
Output[main (root-commit) deab84e] Initial commit
6 files changed, 1259 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 .gitignore
create mode 100644 package-lock.json
create mode 100644 package.json
create mode 100644 server.js
create mode 100644 utils/findPrime.js
create mode 100644 views/index.ejs
You have committed your code to git. Next, you’ll push it to GitHub.
Pushing Your Code to a GitHub Repository
Now that your app’s code is committed to git, you’re ready to push it to GitHub. You can then connect the code with DigitalOcean App Platform and deploy it.
First, in your browser, log in to GitHub and create a new repository called express-memcache. Create an empty repository without README, .gitignore, or license files. You can make the repository either private or public. You can also review GitHub’s documentation on creating a new repository.
Back in your terminal, add your newly created repository as a remote origin, updating your username:
- git remote add origin https://github.com/your_username/express-memcache.git
This command tells Git where to push your code.
Next, rename the default branch main:
- git branch -M main
Finally, push the code to your repository:
- git push -u origin main
Enter your credentials if prompted.
You’ll receive output similar to the following:
OutputEnumerating objects: 10, done.
Counting objects: 100% (10/10), done.
Delta compression using up to 8 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (7/7), done.
Writing objects: 100% (10/10), 9.50 KiB | 9.50 MiB/s, done.
Total 10 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
To https://github.com/your_username/express-memcache.git
* [new branch] main -> main
Branch 'main' set up to track remote branch 'main' from 'origin'.
Your app’s code is now on GitHub, ready to be deployed by App Platform.
Step 4 — Deploying on App Platform
In this step, you’ll deploy your Express app to DigitalOcean App Platform. You’ll create an App Platform app, permit it to access your GitHub repository, and then deploy it.
You’ll start by updating the environment settings so that your configuration can be read from the PORT environment label.
Updating Your App’s Environment Settings
In this section, you’ll expand your Express server to allow the app’s port configuration to be read from an environment variable. Because the configuration will likely change between deploys, this update will enable your app to read the port from its App Platform environment.
Open the file server.js in your editor. Then, at the bottom of the file, update the highlighted code to replace the existing app.listen line and add a new const port line:
...
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, () =>
console.log(`Example app is listening on port ${port}.`)
);
This code indicates to use a PORT environment variable if it exists or default to port 3000 otherwise.
Your app will now be able to read the port from the App Platform environment to which you will now deploy it.
Creating and Deploying Your App on App Platform
You can now set up your app with App Platform.
You will incur charges for running this app on App Platform, with web services billed by the second (starting at a minimum of one minute). Pricing is displayed on the Review screen. See App Platform Pricing for details.
First, log in to your DigitalOcean account. From the Apps dashboard, click Create, then Apps. You can also follow our product documentation on How to Create Apps in App Platform.
On the Create Resource From Source Code screen, select GitHub as the Service Provider. Then, give DigitalOcean permission to access your repository. The best practice is to select only the repository that you want deployed. If you haven’t done so, you’ll be prompted to install the DigitalOcean GitHub app. Select your repository from the list and click Next.
On the Resources screen, click Edit Plan to select your plan size. This tutorial will use the Basic Plan with the smallest size Web Services (512 MB RAM | 1 vCPU) for the express-memcache resource. The Basic Plan and smallest web service offer enough resources for this sample Express app. Once you have set your plan, click Back.
Next, click the Info tab on the left navigation bar and note the region your app is in. You’ll need this in the next step when you add a DigitalOcean Marketplace Add-On for MemCachier.
Finally, click on the Review tab, then click the Create Resources button to build and deploy your app. It will take a little while for the build to run. When it is finished, you will receive a success message with a link to your deployed app.
So far, you have created an Express app that finds a prime number and has a Like button. You committed the app’s code to Git and pushed it to GitHub, and then you deployed the app on App Platform.
To make your Express app faster and more scalable, you will implement three object caching strategies. You need a cache, which you’ll create in the next step.
Step 5 — Configuring an Object Cache with MemCachier
In this step, you’ll create and configure an object cache. Any memcached-compatible cache will work for this tutorial. You will provision one with the MemCachier Add-On from the DigitalOcean Marketplace. A MemCachier cache is an in-memory key-value store.
First, you’ll add the MemCachier Add-On from the DigitalOcean Marketplace. Visit the MemCachier Add-On page and click Add MemCachier. On the next screen, select the region your App Platform app is in, which you noted earlier. Your app and cache should be in the same region so that latency is as low as possible. You can view your App Platform app’s settings if you need to find the region again. You can optionally select a plan. Then, click Add MemCachier to provision your cache.
To figure out region name-to-slug mappings, see DigitalOcean’s Available Datacenters. For example, the region San Francisco maps to sfo3.
Next, you’ll configure your Express app to use the cache. Visit the Add-Ons dashboard, then click the name of your MemCachier Add-On to open its dashboard. On the MemCachier Add-On dashboard, click the Show button for Configuration Variables to load a display with the values for MEMCACHIER_USERNAME, MEMCACHIER_PASSWORD, and MEMCACHIER_SERVERS. Take note of these values because you will need them next.
You’ll now save your MemCachier configuration variables as environment variables for your app. Go back to your App Platform app’s dashboard and click Settings. Then, under Components, click express-memc…. Scroll to the Environment Variables section, click Edit, and then add your MemCachier configuration variables with the three keys (MEMCACHIER_USERNAME, MEMCACHIER_PASSWORD and MEMCACHIER_SERVERS) and the corresponding values you got from the MemCachier dashboard. For MEMCACHIER_PASSWORD, check Encrypt because the value is a password. Click Save to update the app.
Now, you’ll configure a memcache client in your Express app, using the environment variables you just saved so that the app can communicate with your cache.
In your terminal, install the memjs library:
- npm install memjs
Next, create a services directory. Then, create the file services/memcache.js and open it in your editor. At the top of the file, import memjs and configure a cache client:
const { Client } = require('memjs');
module.exports = Client.create(process.env.MEMCACHIER_SERVERS, {
failover: true,
timeout: 1,
keepAlive: true,
});
Save the file.
This code creates a MemCachier cache client. As for the options, failover is set to true to use MemCachier’s high-availability clusters. If a server fails, commands for all keys stored on that server will automatically be made to the next available server. A timeout of 1 second is better for a deployed app than the default of 0.5 seconds. keepAlive: true keeps connections to your cache open even when idle, which is desirable because making connections is slow, and caches must be fast to be effective.
You provisioned a cache using the MemCachier Add-On from the DigitalOcean Marketplace in this step. You then added your cache’s configuration settings as App Platform environment variables, enabling you to configure a client, using memjs, so your Express app can communicate with the cache.
Everything is ready to start implementing caching in Express, which you’ll do next.
Step 6 — Implementing Caching in Express with MemCachier
With your Express app deployed and your MemCachier Add-On provisioned, you can now use your object cache. In this step, you will implement three object caching techniques. You will begin by caching resource-intensive computation to improve usage speeds and efficiency. Then, you will implement techniques to cache rendered views after user input to improve request handling and to cache short-lived sessions in anticipation of scaling your app beyond this tutorial.
Caching High-Resource Computations
In this section, you’ll cache resource-intensive computations to speed up your app, which results in more efficient CPU use. The findPrime function is a resource-intensive computation, when a large enough number is submitted. You’ll cache its result and serve that cached value when available instead of repeating the calculation.
First, open server.js to add the memcache client:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
const memcache = require('./services/memcache');
...
Then, store a calculated prime number in the cache:
...
const prime = findPrime(n);
const key = 'prime_' + n;
memcache.set(key, prime.toString(), { expires: 0 }, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
...
Save the file.
The set method takes a key as its first parameter and a value of a string as its second, so you convert the prime number to a string. The third options argument ensures the stored item never expires. The fourth and final parameter is an optional callback, where an error is thrown if present.
Note: As a best practice, cache errors should be handled gracefully. A cache is an enhancement and should generally not crash an app on failure. An app can work perfectly fine, albeit slower, without its cache.
Note: At this point, your app will continue to work locally but without caching. An error will be output when memcache.set is called, because it will not be able to find a cache server:
OutputMemJS: Server <localhost:11211> failed after (2) retries with error - connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:11211
Error: No servers available
...
For the rest of this tutorial, you don’t need local caching. If you want it to work, you could run memcached at localhost:11211, which is the memjs default.
Next, stage and commit your changes:
- git add . && git commit -m "Add memjs client and cache prime number"
Then, push these changes to GitHub, which should automatically deploy to App Platform:
- git push
Your App Platform dashboard will shift from the Deployed message to one that indicates your app is building. When the build is complete, open the app in your browser and submit a number to find its biggest prime.
Note: Your dashboard may display a Waiting for service message. That message will typically resolve by itself. If it lingers, try refreshing your app to check if the build has deployed.
Next, return to the Add-Ons dashboard, then click the View MemCachier option for your named service to view your cache’s analytics dashboard.
On this dashboard, the Set Cmds option on the All Time Stats board and the Items stats on the Storage board have both increased by 1. Each time you submit a number, Set Cmds and Items will both increase. You must press the Refresh button to load any new stats.
Note: Checking your app’s logs on App Platform can be valuable for debugging. From your app’s dashboard, click Runtime Logs to view them.
With items stored in the cache, you can make use of them. You’ll now check if an item is cached, and if so, you’ll serve it from the cache; otherwise, you’ll find the prime number as before.
Back in server.js, update your file with the highlighted lines. You will both modify existing lines and add new lines for the cache:
...
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.render('index');
return;
}
let prime;
const key = 'prime_' + n;
memcache.get(key, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
// Use the value from the cache
// Convert Buffer string before converting to number
prime = parseInt(val.toString());
} else {
// No cached value available, find it
prime = findPrime(n);
memcache.set(key, prime.toString(), { expires: 0 }, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
}
// Initialize likes for this number when necessary
if (!likesMap[n]) likesMap[n] = 0;
const locals = { n, prime, likes: likesMap[n] };
res.render('index', locals);
});
});
...
Save the file.
This code initializes prime without a value, using the let keyword, as its value is now reassigned. Then memcache.get attempts to retrieve the cached prime number. Most of the controller’s code now lives in the memcache.get callback because its result is required to determine how to handle the request. If a cached value is available, use it. Otherwise, do the computation to find the prime number and store the result in the cache as before.
The value returned in the memcache.get callback is a Buffer, so you convert it to a string before converting prime back into a number.
Commit your changes and push them to GitHub to deploy:
- git add . && git commit -m "Check cache for prime number" && git push
When you submit a number not yet cached to your app, the Set Cmds, Items, and get misses stats on your MemCachier dashboard will increase by 1. The miss occurs because you try to get the item from the cache before setting it. The item is not in the cache, resulting in a miss, after which the item gets stored. When you submit a cached number, get hits will increment.
You are now caching resource-intensive computations. Next, you’ll cache your app’s rendered views.
Caching Rendered Views
In this section, you’ll cache the views rendered by your Express app with middleware. Earlier, you set up ejs as a template engine and created a template to render views for each number N submitted. Rendered views can be resource-intensive to create, so caching them can speed up request handling and use fewer resources.
To begin, create a middleware directory. Then, create the file middleware/cacheView.js and open it in your editor. In cacheView.js, add these lines for the middleware function:
const memcache = require('../services/memcache');
/**
* Express middleware to cache views and serve cached views
*/
module.exports = function (req, res, next) {
const key = `view_${req.url}`;
memcache.get(key, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
// Convert Buffer string to send as the response body
res.send(val.toString());
return;
}
});
};
You first import the memcache client. Then, you declare a key, such as view_/?n=100. Next, you check if a view for that key is in the cache with memcache.get. If there is no error and a value exists for that key, there’s nothing more to do, so the request finishes by sending the view back to the client.
Next, if a view is not cached, you want to cache it. To do this, override the res.send method by adding the highlighted lines:
...
module.exports = function (req, res, next) {
const key = `view_${req.url}`;
memcache.get(key, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
// Convert Buffer to UTF-8 string to send as the response body
res.send(val.toString());
return;
}
const originalSend = res.send;
res.send = function (body) {
memcache.set(key, body, { expires: 0 }, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
originalSend.call(this, body);
};
});
};
You override the res.send method with a function that stores the view in the cache before calling the original send function as usual. You invoke the original send function with call, which sets its this context to what it would have been if not overridden. Make sure to use an anonymous function expression (not an arrow function), so the correct this value will be specified.
Then, pass control to the next middleware by adding the highlighted line:
...
/**
* Express middleware to cache views and serve cached views
*/
module.exports = function (req, res, next) {
const key = `view_${req.url}`;
memcache.get(key, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
// Convert Buffer to UTF-8 string to send as the response body
res.send(val.toString());
return;
}
const originalSend = res.send;
res.send = function (body) {
memcache.set(key, body, { expires: 0 }, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
originalSend.call(this, body);
};
next();
});
};
...
Calling next invokes the next middleware function in the app. In your case, there is no other middleware, so the controller is called. The res.render method for Express renders a view, then calls res.send internally with that rendered view. So now, in the controller for the home route, your override function is called when res.render is called, storing the view in the cache before finally calling the original send function to complete the response.
Save the file.
Note: You can also pass a callback to the render method in the controller, but you will have to duplicate the view caching code in the controller for each route being cached.
Now import the view caching middleware into server.js:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
const memcache = require('./services/memcache');
const cacheView = require('./middleware/cacheView');
...
Add the highlighted code to use it with the GET / home route:
...
app.get('/', cacheView, (req, res) => {
...
});
...
Save the file.
Then commit your changes and push them to GitHub to deploy:
- git add . && git commit -m "Add view caching" && git push
Everything should work as usual when you submit a number in your app. If you submit a new number, the MemCachier dashboard stats for Set Cmds, Items, and get misses all increase by two: once for the prime number calculation and once for the view. If you refresh the app with the same number, you’ll see a single get hit added to the MemCachier dashboard. The view is retrieved successfully from the cache, so there is no need to fetch the prime number result.
Note: The Express application setting view cache is enabled by default in production. This view cache does not cache the contents of the template’s output, only the underlying template itself. The view is re-rendered with every request, even when the cache is on. As such, it’s different but complementary to the rendered view caching you implemented.
Now that you are caching views, you may notice that the Like button no longer works. If you were to log the likes value, the value will indeed change. However, the cached view still needs to be updated when the number of likes changes. A cached view needs to be invalidated when the view changes.
Next, when likes changes, you’ll invalidate the cached view by deleting it from the cache. Back in server.js, update the redirect function and add the highlighted lines:
...
app.get('/like', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.redirect('/');
return;
}
likesMap[n]++;
// The URL of the page being 'liked'
const url = `/?n=${n}`;
res.redirect(url);
});
...
The likes count for this view has changed, so the cached version will be invalid. Add the highlighted lines to delete the likes count from the cache when likes change:
...
const url = `/?n=${n}`;
// The view for this URL has changed, so the cached version is no longer valid, delete it from the cache.
const key = `view_${url}`;
memcache.delete(key, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
res.redirect(url);
...
Your server.js file should now match the following:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
const memcache = require('./services/memcache');
const cacheView = require('./middleware/cacheView');
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
/**
* Key is `n`
* Value is the number of 'likes' for `n`
*/
const likesMap = {};
app.get('/', cacheView, (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.render('index');
return;
}
let prime;
const key = 'prime_' + n;
memcache.get(key, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
// Use the value from the cache
// Convert Buffer string before converting to number
prime = parseInt(val.toString());
} else {
// No cached value available, find it
prime = findPrime(n);
memcache.set(key, prime.toString(), { expires: 0 }, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
}
// Initialize likes for this number when necessary
if (!likesMap[n]) likesMap[n] = 0;
const locals = { n, prime, likes: likesMap[n] };
res.render('index', locals);
});
});
app.get('/like', (req, res) => {
const n = req.query.n;
if (!n) {
res.redirect('/');
return;
}
likesMap[n]++;
// The URL of the page being 'liked'
const url = `/?n=${n}`;
// The view for this URL has changed, so the cached version is no longer valid, delete it from the cache.
const key = `view_${url}`;
memcache.delete(key, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
});
res.redirect(url);
});
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, () =>
console.log(`Example app is listening on port ${port}.`)
);
Save the file.
Commit and push changes to deploy:
- git add . && git commit -m "Delete invalid cached view" && git push
The Like button on your app will now work. The following stats will change on your MemCachier dashboard when a view is liked:
- delete hits increments as the view is deleted.
- get misses increases because the view was deleted and is not in the cache.
- get hits increments because the prime number was found in the cache.
- Set Cmds increases because the updated view is added to the cache.
- Items stays the same as the view is deleted and re-added.
You have implemented rendered view caching and invalidated cached views when they change. The final strategy you will implement is session caching.
Caching Sessions
In this section, you’ll add and cache sessions in your Express app, making your cache the session store. A common use case for sessions is user logins, so you can consider this section on caching sessions as a preliminary step for implementing a user login system in the future (though the user login system is beyond the scope of this tutorial). Storing short-lived sessions in a cache can be faster and more scalable than storing in many databases.
Note: A cache is ideal for storing short-lived sessions that time out. However, caches are not persistent; long-lived sessions are better suited to permanent storage solutions like databases.
Install the express-session tool to add sessions to your Express app and connect-memjs to enable the use of your MemCachier cache as the session store:
- npm install express-session connect-memjs
In server.js, import express-session and connect-memjs:
const express = require('express');
const findPrime = require('./utils/findPrime');
const memcache = require('./services/memcache');
const cacheView = require('./middleware/cacheView');
const session = require('express-session');
const MemcacheStore = require('connect-memjs')(session);
...
Save the file.
The session middleware is passed to the connect memcached module, allowing it to inherit from express.session.Store.
Still in server.js, configure the session middleware to use your cache as its store. Add the highlighted lines:
...
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.use(
session({
secret: 'your-session-secret',
resave: false,
saveUninitialized: true,
store: new MemcacheStore({
servers: [process.env.MEMCACHIER_SERVERS],
prefix: 'session_',
}),
})
);
...
The secret is used to sign the session cookie. Be sure to update your-session-secret with a unique string.
Note: You should use an environment variable to set your secret for production setups. To do that, you can set the secret with secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET || 'your-session-secret', though you would also need to set the environment variable in your App Platform dashboard.
resave forces the session to resave if unmodified during a request. You don’t want to store the item in the cache again unnecessarily, so you set it to false.
saveUninitialized: false is useful when you only want to save modified sessions, as is often the case with login sessions where a user property might be added to the session after authentication. In this case, you will store all sessions indiscriminately, so you set it to true.
Finally, set store to your cache, setting the prefix for session cache keys to session_. That means the key for a session item in the cache will look like session_<session ID>.
Next, add some app-level debugging middleware with the highlighted lines, which will help identify the cached sessions in action:
...
app.use(
session({
...
})
);
/**
* Session sanity check middleware
*/
app.use(function (req, res, next) {
console.log('Session ID:', req.session.id);
// Get the item from the cache
memcache.get(`session_${req.session.id}`, (err, val) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
if (val !== null) {
console.log('Session from cache:', val.toString());
}
});
next();
});
...
That middleware will log the session ID for each request. It then gets the session for that ID from the cache and logs its contents. This approach demonstrates that sessions are working and being cached.
Save the file, then commit and push your changes to deployment.
- git add . && git commit -m "Add session caching" && git push
In your app, submit a number and then check the Runtime Logs in your App Platform dashboard to access your debugging messages. You will find the session ID and value that you logged, demonstrating that sessions are working and being cached.
On your MemCachier dashboard, once a view and session are cached, you’ll see 3 get hits for every page refresh: 1 for the view, 1 for the session, and 1 for getting the session in the debugging middleware.
You have now implemented session caching. You can stop here, or you can clean up your app in the optional final step.
(Optional) Step 7 — Cleaning Up Your Resources
The app you have deployed in this tutorial will incur charges, so you can optionally destroy the app and the MemCachier Add-On when you have finished working with them.
From the app’s dashboard, click Actions, then Destroy App.
To clean up your MemCachier Add-On, click Add-Ons, then the name of your MemCachier Add-On. Next, click on Settings and Destroy. A free MemCachier cache will be deactivated after 30 days of inactivity, but it is a good practice to clean up your tools.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you created an Express app to find a prime number with a Like button. You then pushed that app to GitHub and deployed it on DigitalOcean App Platform. Finally, you made the Express app faster and more scalable by implementing three object caching techniques with the MemCachier Add-On for caching resource-intensive computations, rendered views, and sessions. You can review all the files for this tutorial in the DigitalOcean Community repository.
In each caching strategy you implemented, keys had a prefix: prime_, view_ and session_. In addition to the namespace advantage, the prefix offers the additional benefit of allowing you to profile cache performance. You used the MemCachier developer plan in this tutorial, but you can also try a fully managed plan that comes with the Introspection feature set, enabling you to track the performance of individual prefixes. For example, you could monitor any prefix’s hit rate or hit ratio, providing detailed insight into your cache’s performance. To continue working with MemCachier, you can review their documentation.
To keep building with DigitalOcean App Platform, try our App Platform How-To guides and read further in our App Platform documentation.
To keep building with DigitalOcean App Platform, try our App Platform How-To guides and read further in our App Platform documentation.
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