[development] Proper way to cache data

[Augustin (Beginner)]

Hello,

I cannot find in the handbook a tutorial on the proper way to cache data.

A function (http://drupal.org/node/144969) is calculating the values in a 
large array, and I want to serialize the result to be able to cache it on the 
database. This way, the array can be made static between requests, for better 
performance. 

What would be the way to go about it?
Which {cache_*} table to use, what value to use for cid, etc?
How often or in what conditions are each of the cache tables emptied?

Is any of the above already documented somewhere?


Thanks,

Augustin.


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