
First, solve the problem. Then, write the code.
John Johnson
One of the most exciting aspects of the software development process is experiencing the steps leading to a pleasing solution to your problem. That moment when, after some time of thoroughly brainstorming, everything falls into place. I had such a moment today, and I would like to share my story.
The Problem
This morning I was faced with a simple dilemma. I needed to perform a GET request containing a large payload to the server, but I didn’t want to show it in the URL. The reason for the GET request is that I wanted to give the user the ability to download a file with a click of a button. The purpose of the large payload, the requirements for this file. You see, this file is a zip archive that the service will dynamically construct and deliver to the user. The issue is it can potentially contain thousands of files inside, and I didn’t want to clutter the URL with this payload.
That is when it hit me! I have been using Redis for some time now, and I thought this would be a great use of it. With that in mind, I set up to develop the following idea.