🚀 Redis: What It Is, Why You Need It, and How to Use It in Spring Boot + ReactJS

 If you’ve been building modern web applications, you’ve probably heard of Redis. It’s often mentioned alongside databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL, but Redis plays a very different role. In this blog, we’ll break down what Redis is, why you might need it, how it fits into a Spring Boot + ReactJS stack, and how you can install it locally on a Windows 10 PC using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) with Ubuntu.

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🔹 What is Redis?

Redis (short for REmote DIctionary Server) is an open-source, in-memory data store. Think of it as a super-fast key-value database that lives in RAM, making reads and writes extremely fast.

• In-memory → data is kept in memory (RAM), which is much faster than reading from disk.

• Key-value store → data is stored as simple key-value pairs, like user:123 → {"name": "Alice"}.

• Flexible → supports strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, streams, pub/sub, and more.

• Lightweight → small footprint, easy to run locally or in production.

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🔹 Why Do We Need Redis?

Here’s why Redis is so popular in modern apps:

1. Caching
   Reduce database load by storing frequently accessed data (e.g., user profiles, session tokens).

2. Session Management
   Share login sessions across multiple backend instances in a distributed system.

3. Message Queues / Pub-Sub
   Use Redis as a lightweight queue or pub-sub broker for real-time notifications.

4. Rate Limiting
   Prevent abuse by tracking requests per user/IP in Redis.

5. Analytics / Counters
   Fast increment/decrement operations make Redis ideal for counting likes, views, etc.

In short: Redis makes your app faster, more scalable, and more reliable.

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🔹 Can I Use Redis with Spring Boot and ReactJS?

Yes, absolutely!

• On the backend (Spring Boot):

  • Use Spring Data Redis to integrate Redis easily.

  • Common use cases: caching database queries, managing user sessions, background job queues.

• On the frontend (ReactJS):

  • React doesn’t talk to Redis directly. Instead, it communicates with your Spring Boot backend, which can serve cached data from Redis.

  • Example: When React requests a list of projects, Spring Boot can fetch it from Redis instead of hitting PostgreSQL every time.

So Redis acts as a middle layer between your React frontend and your main database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.).

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🔹 Installing Redis Locally on Windows 10 (with WSL + Ubuntu)

Redis doesn’t officially support Windows, but you can run it easily with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Step 1: Enable WSL

Run PowerShell as Administrator and enable WSL:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Reboot your PC when done.

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Step 2: Install Ubuntu from Microsoft Store

1. Open the Microsoft Store.

2. Search for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (or 22.04 LTS).

3. Install and launch it.

4. Set a username and password when prompted.

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Step 3: Install Redis in Ubuntu

Inside your Ubuntu terminal, run:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install redis-server -y

Start Redis:

sudo service redis-server start

Test Redis:

redis-cli ping

Output should be:

PONG

🔹 Wrapping Up

Redis is a powerful tool for any developer working with web apps:

• It makes your app faster with caching.

• It makes your system scalable with shared sessions and queues.

• It integrates seamlessly with Spring Boot, while your React frontend benefits indirectly from faster backend responses.

With WSL + Ubuntu, you can run Redis natively on Windows 10 without Docker. Now you have a fully working local Redis setup to supercharge your development! 🚀