A method for performing an operation on a hierarchical data tree comprising retrieving data from an anchor node in the tree and a plurality of neighboring nodes each potentially affected by the operation. A cache is queried for a key representing the anchor node and the plurality of neighboring nodes based on the retrieved data. If the query finds a match, the retrieved data is replaced with cached data. If the query does not find a match, the operation is performed on the retrieved data to generate post-operation data, the retrieved data is replaced with the post-operation data and the post-operation data is stored in the cache based on the key.