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Quizzes > Quizzes for Business > Technology

Test Your Web Caching Knowledge Quiz

Assess Your Caching Strategies and Web Performance

Difficulty: Moderate
Questions: 20
Learning OutcomesStudy Material
Colorful paper art depicting elements related to a Web Caching Knowledge Quiz.

Are you curious about optimizing page load times? This Web Caching Knowledge Quiz offers 15 targeted questions to test your grasp of caching strategies, HTTP headers, and CDN behaviors. Students and developers will gain confidence in applying cache-control directives and refining performance tactics. Every question is fully modifiable in our editor, so you can tailor the quiz for classroom practice or self-study. For more web tech challenges, try the Web Analytics Fundamentals Quiz or the Web Content Management Assessment Quiz, and explore other quizzes.

What is the primary purpose of web caching?
To manage database connections
To encrypt data in transit
To store copies of web resources closer to clients
To compile server-side scripts
Web caching stores copies of resources closer to clients, reducing latency and server load. It helps serve repeat requests faster by avoiding trips to the origin server.
Which HTTP header is primarily used to control caching behavior?
Upgrade-Insecure-Requests
Content-Type
Cache-Control
Accept-Encoding
The Cache-Control header specifies caching directives like max-age, no-cache, and no-store. It is the primary mechanism to control how and when responses are cached by browsers and proxies.
What HTTP status code indicates that a cached resource has not been modified?
200 OK
404 Not Found
500 Internal Server Error
304 Not Modified
A 304 Not Modified status tells the client that the cached copy is still valid. It avoids sending the resource body again, saving bandwidth and reducing load.
Which Cache-Control directive ensures a response is not cached by browsers or intermediaries?
public
stale-while-revalidate
max-age=3600
no-store
The no-store directive instructs clients and proxies not to store any part of the response. It is used when sensitive data should never be cached at any location.
What is the role of a CDN in web caching?
To perform database queries
To execute server-side business logic
To manage user authentication
To distribute cached content across geographically dispersed servers
A CDN caches static resources on edge servers around the world to reduce latency for users. It offloads traffic from the origin server and provides faster content delivery.
What does the max-age directive specify?
The maximum number of cached entries
The maximum file size to cache
The time until a CDN purges the resource
The maximum time a resource is considered fresh
max-age indicates how many seconds a resource remains fresh before the cache must revalidate it. It helps control the lifespan of cached responses in browsers and proxies.
What is the primary purpose of the ETag header?
To specify cache expiration time
To provide a unique identifier for a specific version of a resource
To indicate compression format
To define content encoding
ETag acts as a fingerprint for a resource version, enabling efficient conditional requests. Clients can use If-None-Match with the ETag value to check whether the resource has changed.
How does Last-Modified differ from ETag?
ETag controls cache size, Last-Modified controls cache location
Last-Modified disables caching, ETag enables it
ETag is sent only by browsers, Last-Modified only by servers
Last-Modified uses a timestamp, while ETag uses a precise resource fingerprint
Last-Modified gives a timestamp of when the resource was last changed, while ETag usually provides a hash or unique identifier. ETags offer more precise change detection, whereas Last-Modified is less granular.
Which directive forces caches to revalidate stale responses with the origin server?
immutable
proxy-revalidate
must-revalidate
no-transform
must-revalidate tells caches they must contact the origin server to validate stale resources before serving them. It ensures that outdated content is not served without checking for updates.
What technique uses unique query strings or filenames to bypass caches?
Compression
Sharding
Lazy loading
Cache busting
Cache busting appends version identifiers to URLs so browsers fetch the latest resource. This technique prevents stale caches from delivering outdated assets.
Which Cache-Control directive allows serving stale content while revalidation occurs in background?
no-cache
stale-while-revalidate
public
must-revalidate
stale-while-revalidate lets caches serve stale content immediately while fetching fresh content in the background. This improves perceived performance without blocking the client.
How does the 'public' directive differ from 'private'?
They are synonyms with no difference
'public' disables caching, 'private' enables it
'private' allows proxies to store the response, 'public' disallows it
'public' allows shared caches to store the response, 'private' restricts it to browsers
'public' tags a response as cacheable by shared caches like CDNs, whereas 'private' limits storage to a single user agent. This distinction ensures sensitive data isn't stored in shared caches.
What is the purpose of the Vary header in HTTP responses?
To list supported HTTP methods
To tell caches which request headers to consider when serving stored responses
To set the time a resource remains fresh
To specify error codes for validation
Vary lists request headers (like Accept-Encoding) that affect response content. It ensures caches store multiple versions of a resource based on those headers.
Which of the following is a benefit of caching for web performance?
Automatic encryption of resources
Increased server computational complexity
Reduced latency and lower server load
Guaranteed delivery of dynamic content
Caching decreases response times by serving stored data and reduces load on origin servers. This leads to faster page loads and better scalability under high traffic.
What is a common method to invalidate content on a CDN?
Changing the server's IP address
Increasing max-age directive
Sending a purge or invalidation request to the CDN API
Modifying the DNS TTL
Most CDNs provide purge or invalidation APIs to remove objects from edge caches immediately. This approach ensures updated content is available without waiting for TTL expiration.
If you want a resource to be cached by browsers indefinitely but updated only when its URL changes, which directive is most appropriate?
Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate
Cache-Control: no-store
Cache-Control: max-age=31536000, immutable
Cache-Control: public, must-revalidate
immutable with a long max-age indicates the resource will not change and only URL versioning should trigger updates. This strategy allows browsers to cache indefinitely until the URL changes.
For dynamic API responses that rarely change, which combination ensures efficient validation with minimal overhead?
ETag header with If-None-Match conditional requests
Disabling caching
Setting max-age to a large value without revalidation
Using only Last-Modified header without cache-control
ETags allow precise validation by providing unique identifiers for resource versions. Using If-None-Match ensures the server can respond with 304 Not Modified when content hasn't changed, minimizing data transfer.
What is the difference between strong and weak ETags?
Strong ETags are shorter strings, weak ETags are longer hashes
There is no functional difference
Weak ETags offer higher security than strong ETags
Strong ETags change on every byte change, weak ETags tolerate semantically equivalent changes
Strong ETags require a byte-for-byte match, ensuring exact content identity. Weak ETags tolerate semantically equivalent changes, enabling more flexible caching without breaking cache correctness.
In a scenario with multiple CDN nodes, which strategy ensures consistent cache invalidation globally?
Relying on DNS propagation to clear caches
Using local browser cache clearing scripts
Increasing origin server TTL
Coordinated purge requests to all nodes via CDN API
Coordinated purge requests via the CDN API ensure each edge node invalidates the specified resource. This strategy maintains consistency across distributed caches and avoids stale content delivery.
What is a trade-off when using very long cache lifetimes for static assets?
It increases server CPU usage significantly
It prevents compression of assets
It causes real-time data synchronization issues
Clients may serve outdated content if versioning is not managed
Long cache lifetimes boost performance by reducing server requests but risk clients serving outdated content. Implementing a versioning strategy is essential to ensure that users receive the latest assets when necessary.
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Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse common web caching mechanisms and benefits
  2. Identify appropriate cache-control directives for HTTP headers
  3. Evaluate browser and CDN caching behaviors under different scenarios
  4. Apply cache invalidation strategies effectively
  5. Demonstrate understanding of ETags and last-modified headers
  6. Master performance optimization through strategic caching

Cheat Sheet

  1. Benefits of Web Caching - Web caching is like a magic trick that slashes bandwidth costs, speeds up page loads, and breathes new life into your existing hardware. Caching lets servers spend less time fetching data and more time impressing users with lightning-fast responses. Web Caching Basics Tutorial
  2. Common Caching Mechanisms - From browser caching on the client side to proxy caching in the middle and CDNs sprinkled around the globe, each mechanism plays a unique role in delivering content faster. Understanding how they work together is key to crafting a seamless user experience. Cache-Control Best Practices
  3. HTTP Caching Headers - Headers like Cache-Control, Expires, and Pragma are your secret sauce for telling browsers and proxies exactly when and how to cache resources. Mastering these headers helps you strike the perfect balance between freshness and efficiency. Understanding HTTP Caching Headers
  4. ETags for Validation - ETags act as tiny fingerprints for your resources, allowing the server to verify if a cached copy is still good or needs updating. This nifty check saves bandwidth and ensures users always get the right version. HTTP ETag
  5. Last-Modified Header - By stamping resources with a Last-Modified date, servers and browsers can quickly decide whether to reuse or refresh content. It's a straightforward but powerful tactic for keeping your cache lean and valid. Deep Dive: Cache-Control, ETag & Last-Modified
  6. Cache Invalidation Strategies - Whether you're busting caches by appending version numbers or purging stale entries manually, effective invalidation keeps content fresh and avoids user confusion. Nail these strategies to ensure your updates hit browsers instantly. Cache Invalidation Techniques
  7. Browser and CDN Behavior - Different browsers and CDNs interpret cache-control directives in their own quirky ways, so testing across environments is a must. Learn how each reacts to your rules to maintain consistent performance worldwide. Web Caching Basics Tutorial
  8. Cache Freshness & Expiration - Setting the right expiration times is like tuning an instrument: too long and users miss updates, too short and you squander cache benefits. Strike the perfect chord for both performance and accuracy. Web Caching Basics Tutorial
  9. The Vary Header's Power - The Vary header lets servers serve different versions of a resource depending on request headers like Accept-Encoding. It's a crucial tool for handling compression, language negotiation, and device-specific content. Web Caching Basics Tutorial
  10. Advanced Caching Techniques - Combine all these methods - smart headers, ETags, expiration rules, and invalidation - to create a caching strategy that turbocharges your site. Advanced caching can turn sluggish pages into speed demons. Advanced Cache Strategies
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