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Hands-on: HTTP caching with Varnish

Workshop abstract

In some scenarios, Varnish is the silver bullet to fix performance issues and go from a slow to a lightning fast site. However, more often than not, you will need to put some effort into your application to get good results. Ideally, you design your application to play well with caching from the outset. If you don't know what you are doing, Varnish can also be the bullet to shoot yourself in the foot.

In this workshop, you will learn how to use HTTP headers to control caching and how to configure Varnish itself. Running your own Vagrant Box with Varnish and PHP, you get to try out the effects of the caching headers and Varnish configuration directives. You will discuss things that go well with Varnish and situations to avoid. After mastering the basics, you will look at advanced concepts like edge side includes (ESI).

Workshop level

Basic

Workshop takeaways

With this knowledge, you will be able to set up and configure Varnish. You know how to build applications with caching in mind, and can assess whether an application is ready for Varnish or something needs to be fixed first.

Workshop slides

Download the slides

Workshop video

David Buchmann

David Buchmann

Liip AG

David works at Liip AG as a Symfony expert. He is maintaining the Symfony Content Management Framework, is a co-author of the FOSHttpCacheBundle, and is active with the PHP-HTTP HTTPlug client abstraction. When he is not coding, he enjoys music, boardgames, and travelling with his girlfriend.

Hrvoje Knežević

Hrvoje Knežević

Netgen

Hrvoje has been working with eZ and Symfony for 5 years. He works at Netgen where he is a tech lead on numerous projects. During Summer Camp you can find him at the Rovinj pier with his guitar - don't worry, you'll hear him before you see him!