RESTful Java Web Services - Third Edition

Using Cache-Control directives to manage the HTTP cache

The Cache-Control header was defined as part of HTTP/1.1 and offers more options than the Expires HTTP header. This header is used for specifying the directives that must be obeyed by all caching mechanisms involved in HTTP communication. These directives indicate who can do the caching of a resource returned by the server, how the caching is done, and for how long the resource can be cached.

The Expires header is recommended for static resources such as images. The Cache-Control header is useful when you need more control over how caching is done.

Here is a list of useful Cache-Control directives:

• private: This directive indicates only those clients who originally requested the resource ...