[jobu]

Wow! They weren't even caching database calls:

HealthCare.gov had been constructed so that every time a user had to get information from the website's vast database, the website had to make what's called a query into that database. Well-constructed, high-volume sites, especially e-commerce sites, will instead store or assemble the most frequently accessed information in a layer above the entire database, called a cache.

It also struck me as a little funny that Time had to define the term 'cache'. Even my mom (74 years old) has some idea what a cache is (browser cache).

[UweSchmidt]

I love technically correct, yet understandable definitions, formulated concisely and friendly.

Especially in areas where I have expert knowledge, a definition like that gives me reference on what the general knowledge is, and teaches me to articulate my knowledge better.

[ConceptJunkie]

I think you are overestimating the understanding of the average magazine reader. I'm not trying to insult magazine readers (even though it is "Time" we are talking about). Computers are still "black boxes" to most people, and there's nothing wrong with that. The fact that they are is a testament to designers, engineers and developers doing their jobs well.

Kudos to your Mom, who I'm guessing knows what a browser cache is from talking with you, but this detail is technical enough that a quick explanation is in order.

This definition is concise and descriptive and isn't long enough to derail the gist of what the article is talking about.

[dragontamer]

http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2009/05/07/115945-mexico-s-w...

Depends on what industry you work in. A Cache may look more like a giant pile of weapons as opposed to some memory in a computer.

[saraid216]

Eh, it's not industry-dependent so much as industries have specific reductions. A cache is long-term storage. The weapons industry would expect it to be filled with weapons, and maybe some body armor. A scouting party would expect tools for equipment repair, rations, and maybe some minor comfort gear. A computer scientist would expect it to be full of bytes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cache&allowed_in_fr...

[SilasX]

They also treated "query" as a special technical term[1], which is in common usage even more so, and which means ... about what the average person would expect it to mean, "but on a computer".

[1] "make what's called a query into" instead of just "query"

[melvinram]

a. This struck me as dramatically unprofessional. How could they not do caching? Mind blowing when you consider that they knew their audience was a significant part of the country.

b. The explanation of cache seemed a bit too plain and didn't give enough context in the article. I was thinking an analogy might have work better, such as:

Caching is way of reducing the amount of work that needs to be done by a system. Suppose you had a system that was hooked up to a thermometer and reading the temperature from this thermometer takes 1 second.

Without caching, every time you asked the system what the temperature was, it would do a new reading from the thermometer. If 1000 people asked the system what the temperature was, it would do 1000 readings, which would take 1000 seconds collectively.

With caching, the first time the system was asked, it would do a reading and it would save the reading somewhere it could get it much faster than 1 second, let's say 0.01 seconds. For all subsequent readings, it would use the saved reading, until enough time had pasted to do warrant doing a new reading.

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Obviously, my version is 3 paragraphs long so it's not ideal either :D