a method of caching contextually variant objects in a common cache . the method can include identifying an object type for a requested object and determining whether the requested object has an object type which is specified among an enumerated set of cacheable object types which can be stored in the common cache . importantly , each cacheable object type can have an associated context . if the requested object has an object type which is specified among the enumerated set of cacheable object types , a cache key can be computed for the requested object using cache key formulation rules for the associated context . finally , the requested object can be retrieved from the common cache using the formulated cache key . notably , in one aspect of the invention , the method also can include the step of invalidating individual objects in the common cache according to corresponding cache policies of associated contexts .