Its not often that a brand new, really useful and completely free Joomla component comes on the scene.

 
Anthony Ferrara has managed that with his Page Cache component.

What is a Cache?

A cache helps your website load more quickly for visitors. Wikipedia states simply that a cache is:

"A temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is lower."

One of the most noticeable features of Content Management Systems such as Joomla is that much of the site is the same on every page. Why should visitors to your site need to load each image and each module every time they visit a new page?

What Does Page Cache Do? 

Joomla offers some cache capability that you can access in the administrator section (Site => Global Configuration => Cache). The Page Cache component adds greatly to that relatively simple functionality. 

Useful features include:

• The cache resets whenever new content is added, meaning that you're not stuck with an old version of the site after writing a new article.
• You can exclude certain URLs and components.
• Unlike alternatives it offers APC cache functionality which is one of the most advanced cache systems available. 
• You can see from the Control Panel that it records a great deal of useful data:

 

{gallery}cache{/gallery}  

How Do I Install It?

Go here to download the component. Installation is relatively simple - you need to create 3 new files (for backups) and change the permissions on seven files. The following files are patched:

• /index.php
• /administrator/index.php
• /administrator/index2.php
• /administrator/index3.php

Further Reading 

• Click here to download the component
• FAQ about the component
  
• Reviews of the component at Joomla.org
• Brian Teeman over at Joomla Weekly News wrote a detailed review of the component
• Mambohut.com are using it and claiming 90% faster load times