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So every time a new comment is posted, is the CloudFlare cache invalidated and replaced with a new version of the comments page?

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Actually for now, HN is not caching their HTML with us. we put a "CF-Cache-Status" header for when we are caching things

So when hitting a comment page, HN's backend is being hit in some way, whether by reading a db or by concatenating flat files or something else? Or are they just using a local cache that isn't pushed out to CloudFlare because there would be so much churn that pushing to CF wouldn't be a benefit?

Are they using Railgun to only transmit changes? Railgun seems like the neatest thing CF offers, as, AFAIK, you get the bandwidth benefits of caching without having to deal with invalidation.

Not sure, but cloudfare supposedly speeds up content delivery even for dynamic content where you need a new db hit each time. The idea is that it leaves open a persistent connection with the webserver, which means A) less work creating and destroying connections B) each new connection isn't starting off as throttled.

They have tech to do even better. See here https://www.cloudflare.com/railgun

That is how you can make it faster even when somebody is logged in and you are delivering a somewhat personalized experience.

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