Super fast in-memory data store
Day 148 of 149
👉 Full deep-dive with code examples
The Sticky Note Analogy
Your desk has a drawer full of files (database) and sticky notes on your monitor (Redis):
- Drawer: Organized, permanent, but slow to find things
- Sticky notes: Right in front of you, instant access!
Redis is like sticky notes for your applications!
Super fast because data lives in memory, not on disk.
Why Redis Is Fast
Traditional databases:
- Store data on disk (SSD/HDD)
- Disk access is slow (milliseconds)
Redis:
- Stores data in RAM (memory)
- RAM access is fast (microseconds)
- 100x faster than disk!
What Redis Stores
Not just simple values:
- Strings: Simple key-value pairs
- Lists: Ordered collections
- Sets: Unique items
- Hashes: Objects with multiple fields
- Sorted sets: Ranked data (leaderboards!)
Common Uses
Caching:
- Store frequently accessed data
- Avoid hitting slow database
Sessions:
- User login sessions
- Shopping carts
Real-time features:
- Chat messages
- Live notifications
- Leaderboards
Rate limiting:
- Track request counts
- Block abusive users
The Trade-Off
- Fast: In-memory is blazingly fast
- Volatile: RAM can lose data on restart (though Redis can persist)
- Limited size: RAM is more expensive than disk
In One Sentence
Redis is a super-fast in-memory data store used for caching, sessions, and real-time features where speed matters most.
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