💃 Smart Caching Made Simple 🕺

Good morning, Salesforce Nerds! 👋 

Caching in Salesforce often feels like discovering a hidden feature you didn’t know you desperately needed.

Platform Cache gives you speed. 💨 

CacheBuilder gives you control. 🎛️ 

Together, they turn expensive, repetitive lookups into fast, predictable wins.

If you’ve ever watched your Apex or Flows hammer the same queries like it’s being paid by the millisecond, this article is for you. 🫵 

Today we take a practical tour of the CacheBuilder Interface: what it is, how it works, and why it quietly boosts performance across busy orgs.

Let’s get into it. 👇️ 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

💃 Smart Caching Made Simple 🕺

• How CacheBuilder Works

• Key Components At Play

• Why It Helps Performance

• Common Use Cases

• Closing Thoughts

SALESFORCE CALLS, YOU ANSWER

HOW CACHEBUILDER WORKS

Platform Cache is already powerful. 🏋️ 

It stores data in-memory so your app doesn’t repeatedly query the same configuration, picklists, reference data, or user context.

But there’s a gap. Something has to populate that cache. 🤔 

And it should do it consistently, predictably, and (ideally) without a developer remembering to kick it off manually.

That’s where the CacheBuilder Interface steps in. 👈️ 

It defines the contract for rebuilding cached values when they expire or go missing.

Instead of scattering “cache warm-up” logic throughout triggers, flows, or controllers, you centralize it. 🎯 

Salesforce simply invokes your builder when the cache needs data, and you get a clean, reusable pattern for high-traffic lookups.

The implementation is straightforward: you implement the interface and provide a doLoad() method that returns whatever value should be stored in the named cache entry.

Salesforce takes it from there. 😀 

When an entry expires or isn’t found, the platform automatically calls your builder to load the value.

Check this basic conceptual example (straight from official docs):

class UserInfoCache implements Cache.CacheBuilder {
    public Object doLoad(String userid) {
        User u = (User)[SELECT Id, IsActive, username FROM User WHERE id =: userid];
        return u;
    }
}

Once registered, calling code simply attempts to retrieve the cached entry. Salesforce handles the miss and rebuild: 🔥 

User batman = (User) Cache.Org.get(UserInfoCache.class, ‘00541000000ek4c');

If the entry exists, great.

If not, your builder runs automatically, stores the result, and returns it. 📤️ 

The right logic happens without anyone remembering to “hydrate” the cache.

SMALL PIECES = BIG POWER

KEY COMPONENTS AT PLAY

CacheBuilder plugs into the broader Platform Cache ecosystem, which has a few important parts: 🧩 

📦️ Cache.Partitions
You can divide cache storage into logical compartments. Most orgs use the default partition for general use, while enterprise apps may carve out dedicated partitions for modules, integrations, or performance-critical features.

🎛️ CacheBuilder Interface
This is the Apex contract you implement. Its job is always the same: load the correct value when Salesforce needs it.

⚖️ Cache Rules
This is where you decide which builder is tied to which key, how long that data lives, and whether it is org cache, session cache, or both.

💻️ Cache API (Cache.Org, Cache.Session)
This is what your Apex, LWC controllers, or integrations use to retrieve values.

In practice, these parts form a mini-caching architecture that’s easy to reason about and easy to test.

Once one team adopts CacheBuilder, everyone else starts asking why they didn’t do it sooner. 🤷 

YOUR DATABASE WILL THANK YOU

WHY IT HELPS PERFORMANCE

CacheBuilder shines anywhere you have high-traffic lookups that return identical results across many users or processes. ⚡️ 

Think:

• Configuration records used by every Apex class

• Picklist translations

• Role or region metadata

• Lookup tables that power validation rules

• Reusable UI dictionaries for LWC components

Without caching, these values are queried repeatedly, generating unnecessary load and adding latency to each request. ❌ 

With CacheBuilder, the system calls that query exactly once per expiration cycle.

Apex also benefits by reducing heap size and execution time across repetitive flows and triggers. 💥 

This is the kind of improvement you won't always see in a dashboard, but your governor limits definitely feel it.

A conceptual usage in a busy LWC controller:

@AuraEnabled(cacheable=true)
public static Map<String, String> getUiLabels() {
    return (Map<String, String>) Cache.Org.get('ui', 'labels');
}

When hundreds of users load the same screen, the difference between 0 queries and 300 queries becomes very real. 🤩 

WHEN CACHEBUILDER EARNS ITS KEEP

COMMON USE CASES

CacheBuilder isn’t for storing random data. ⛔️ 

It excels in predictable, stable, read-heavy patterns. Some favorites:

1. Cross-Org Configuration
Centralized “org dictionary” records that standardize logic across automation and Apex.

2. Multi-Region or Multi-Brand Lookups
If logic depends on region-specific picklists, mapping tables, or routing rules, a cache prevents hammering metadata or custom objects.

3. Integration Lookup Tables
Reference values required by APIs (status maps, category codes, or routing metadata) often belong in cache.

4. Front-End Accelerators
LWCs rely heavily on rapid load times. Caching common UI lookup data cuts down round-trips.

5. Expensive Business Rules
Anything computed from multiple queries or object chains is a good candidate.

A simple computed example:

public class PricingTierCacheBuilder implements Cache.CacheBuilder {
    public Object doLoad() {
        // Pretend this is a heavy calculation normally.
        Decimal tier = [SELECT AVG(Price__c) FROM Product__c].get('expr0');
        return tier.setScale(2);
    }
}

When this runs once per expiration instead of once per transaction, your CPU time thanks you. 🙏 

CACHE LIKE A PRO

CLOSING THOUGHTS

CacheBuilder is one of those Salesforce features that quietly improves everything without calling attention to itself. 👍️ 

It tidies up caching logic, centralizes loading rules, and gives the platform a consistent, maintainable way to speed up your org.

For high-traffic lookups especially, it reduces load, improves response times, and turns expensive queries into effortless memory reads. 👌 

If you're already using Platform Cache, adding CacheBuilder is the natural next step.

If you're not using Platform Cache yet, this is your sign to start. 🟢 

Your future Apex, your database, and your governor limits will all appreciate the upgrade.

When in doubt: store once, read often, and let CacheBuilder handle the heavy lifting. 💪 

SOUL FOOD

Today’s Principle

and now....Salesforce Memes