How to implement caching for network requests using Fast Networking Library in Kotlin Android

How to implement caching for network requests using Fast Networking Library in Kotlin Android.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to implement caching for network requests using the Fast Networking library in Kotlin for Android.

Step 1: Set up your project

Start by creating a new Android project in Kotlin. Open your project's build.gradle file and add the following dependency to the dependencies block:

implementation 'com.amitshekhar.android:android-networking:1.0.2'

Then, sync your project to download the necessary dependencies.

Step 2: Enable caching

In your application's manifest file, add the following permission to allow caching of network requests:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

Step 3: Make a network request

To make a network request, create a new Kotlin file and add the following code:

import com.androidnetworking.AndroidNetworking
import com.androidnetworking.common.Priority
import com.androidnetworking.interfaces.JSONObjectRequestListener
import org.json.JSONObject

fun makeNetworkRequest() {
    AndroidNetworking.get("https://api.example.com/data")
        .setPriority(Priority.MEDIUM)
        .build()
        .getAsJSONObject(object : JSONObjectRequestListener {
            override fun onResponse(response: JSONObject) {
                // Handle the response here
            }

            override fun onError(error: ANError) {
                // Handle the error here
            }
        })
}

In this example, we are making a GET request to the "https://api.example.com/data" endpoint. You can modify this URL to match your desired endpoint.

Step 4: Enable caching for the request

To enable caching for the network request, add the following code before calling the build() method:

AndroidNetworking.get("https://api.example.com/data")
    .setPriority(Priority.MEDIUM)
    .setOkHttpClient(NetworkingUtils.okHttpClientWithCache(context))
    .build()

Here, we are using a helper method okHttpClientWithCache() to create an OkHttpClient instance with caching enabled. Make sure to replace context with the appropriate context object.

Step 5: Implement the caching helper method

Create a new Kotlin file and add the following code to implement the okHttpClientWithCache() helper method:

import android.content.Context
import okhttp3.Cache
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
import java.io.File
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit

object NetworkingUtils {
    private const val CACHE_SIZE_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024 // 10 MB

    fun okHttpClientWithCache(context: Context): OkHttpClient {
        val cacheDir = File(context.cacheDir, "network_cache")
        val cache = Cache(cacheDir, CACHE_SIZE_BYTES.toLong())
        return OkHttpClient.Builder()
            .cache(cache)
            .connectTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
            .readTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
            .writeTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
            .build()
    }
}

In this code, we are creating a cache directory in the app's cache directory and initializing the OkHttpClient with the cache.

Step 6: Handle cache hits and misses

To handle cache hits and misses, modify the onResponse() method in the network request code as follows:

override fun onResponse(response: JSONObject) {
    // Check if the response was served from cache
    if (response.networkResponse == null) {
        // Response served from cache
        // Handle the cached response here
    } else {
        // Response served from network
        // Handle the network response here
    }
}

Here, we are checking if the networkResponse object is null, which indicates that the response was served from the cache.

That's it! You have successfully implemented caching for network requests using the Fast Networking library in Kotlin for Android. Now your app will cache responses and serve them from the cache when available, reducing network usage and improving performance.