Cache-aside: app reads from cache, on miss loads from DB and populates cache; writes go to DB and cache is updated/invalidated. Write-through: writes go through the cache which also writes to DB, keeping cache in sync but adding write latency.
Advanced answer
Deep dive
Expanding on the short answer — what usually matters in practice:
Explain the "why", not just the "what" (intuition + consequences).
Trade-offs: what you gain/lose (time, memory, complexity, risk).
Edge cases: empty inputs, large inputs, invalid inputs, concurrency.
Examples
A tiny example (an explanation template):
// Example: discuss trade-offs for "cache-aside-vs-write-through-—-what’s-the-differ"
function explain() {
// Start from the core idea:
// Cache-aside: app reads from cache, on miss loads from DB and populates cache; writes go to
}
Common pitfalls
Too generic: no concrete trade-offs or examples.
Mixing average-case and worst-case (e.g., complexity).