This repository introduces a cost-aware, score-based caching policy as an extension to DiskCache. It includes benchmarking tools, synthetic workload generation, and testing suites for evaluating the performance of the new caching strategy.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/marwansakas/python-diskcache.git
   

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate         # On Linux/macOS
   .venv\Scripts\activate          # On Windows

3. Install required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements-devs.txt

Run all tests, including unit and benchmark tests:

pytest

Run only unit tests (excluding benchmarks):

pytest --benchmark-disable

Run only the unit tests for the new policy

pytest .\marwan_tests

Run a specific test file (e.g., test_score_based_cache.py):

pytest marwan_tests/test_score_based_cache.py

Run benchmark suite:

pytest marwan_tests/test_benchmarks.py --benchmark-only

Run with debug logging (no output capture):

pytest marwan_tests/test_benchmarks.py --benchmark-only --capture=no

1. Save benchmark results to file:

   pytest marwan_tests/test_benchmarks.py --benchmark-only --benchmark-save=score_cache_run

2. Export results as JSON:

   pytest-benchmark export score_cache_run --output benchmark_result.json

Generate graphs to analyze alpha, beta, and lambda parameter effects:

python policy_comparison/parameter_sweep_and_analysis.py

This script runs synthetic workloads using varying parameters and produces plots:

• hit_rate_vs_alpha.png
• p95_latency_vs_beta.png
• etc.

The script also saves detailed logs to:

• parameter_sweep_results.json

To run a head-to-head comparison between the baseline (LRU) and the Score-Based policy:

python policy_comparison/vanilla_vs_extended.py

This script will:

• Execute a common workload on both policies
• Report and compare hit rates and latency metrics
• Optionally generate visual comparisons

• The custom cache logic is implemented in diskcache/extensions/score_based_cache.py
• All tests assume DiskCache is installed and discoverable
• Make sure to clean old __pycache__ directories between changes if needed