Issue
I'm researching this for a project and I'm wondering what other people are doing to prevent stale CSS and JavaScript files from being served with each new release. I don't want to append a timestamp or something similar which may prevent caching on every request.
I'm working with the Spring 2.5 MVC framework and I'm already using the google api's to serve prototype and scriptaculous. I'm also considering using Amazon S3 and the new Cloudfront offering to minimize network latency.
Solution
I add a parameter to the request with the revision number, something like:
<script type="text/javascript" src="/path/to/script.js?ver=456"></script>
The 'ver' parameter is updated automatically with each build (read from file, which the build updates). This makes sure the scripts are cached only for the current revision.
Answered By - Eran Galperin
Answer Checked By - Mary Flores (JavaFixing Volunteer)