= Fast Snippet
Fast Snippet provides a replacement to <r:snippet/> that speeds up multiple calls to the same snippet in a single page by caching the results of Snippet.find_by_name in an instance variable of the rendering page.
There's really only one situation where this helps: when a page calls the same snippet multiple times using the <r:snippet/> tag. According to my benchmarks, substantial gains are only apparent after 20 or so calls. However by about 50, we start seeing orders of magnitude difference in speed.
== Install
Place it in vendor/extensions and that's it. This is a drop in replacement, so no extra work is required.
== Why?
So why would you need to call a snippet that many times? Some places like to have copyrights under every image. Copyrights can be kept in a Snippet. If you have tens of images in a page, the slow-down becomes quite noticeable.
This is also very useful when combined with extensions that use snippets as configurable parts of their code.
== Why not?
Well, it's not always necessary. Most users of Radiant more than likely only use a particular snippet once or twice. It's about 30 LoC extra, so it's up to you to decide if that's too much for something you may not need.
== See for yourself
There's a benchmark script in benchmark/fast_snippet_benchmark.rb
== Hey! You didn't write any specs!
Uhh, yeah. Here's the thing though: we're just changing the implementation of the standard interface. Run rake spec if it makes you feel better. ;)
== Credit
Andrew O'Brien <obrien.andrew@gmail.com>
