How can you avoid common performance pitfalls?

Database Optimization: Normalize databases to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity. Use indexes wisely to speed up query performance. Regularly review and optimize your queries, looking for potential slow points or unnecessary operations. Memory Management: Use multi-threading and asynchronous operations where appropriate. Be careful with synchronization; excessive locking can cause contention and degrade performance. Avoid Premature Optimization: While it's essential to write efficient code, don't compromise readability and maintainability unless you're sure about the performance gain. As Donald Knuth said, "Premature optimization is the root of all evil."

I agree. In my experience, after following best practices for optimization, performance audits are ground zero for finding unseen latency causing issues. Being able to scope these issues and drill down on the specifics are priceless.

Performance audit tools can help you recognize and address issues that might be affecting your website’s speed, usability, accessibility or SEO. Regularly using these tools can help you stay on top of any potential problems and address them before they affect your users. These tools can provide suggestions on how to fix or improve any issues that they detect, helping you optimize your web page for better performance.

The use of these tools is quite recommended, however they are not perfect. Trying for a 100% score on Lighthouse can also bring you quite a bit of pain, and a lot of headache. Having a performant audit score is not everything, especially on large-sized applications. It can easily bring a loss of money while fighting for a perfect result.

I wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion of using performance audit tools as a primary step in web optimization. These tools not only offer us a clear picture of the current state but also invaluable advice on how to move forward. However, I'd like to emphasize that before implementing any tool, it's crucial to clearly define our goals. Optimization decisions based on the data should directly relate to pre-established objectives, ensuring the efficiency of the process.

I agree about premature optimization. There's a saying that in development projects you need to first make it *work*, then make it work *well*, then make it work *great*. That doesn't mean low-but-working quality "spaghetti code" for the first phase though: code should still be clear and readable (and commented!), and any "quick wins" in performance should be considered at the first stage: can you avoid an n+1 loop without too much complexity? Will strings need to be localized? Potential easy win with eager loading? Add a lazy load attribute? Stay aware of addressing those early when possible. And avoid reaching for caching first.

If you can measure it, you can improve it! These types of audit tools certainly act as your “Report 0” when you start optimizing the kpi’s. Consistency is key and only important if you know what you are measuring.

For the user, performance means the perceived speed and responsiveness of the user interface. Some of the most effective measures are: - Know how to hand code. Minifying code is not the same as optimising it. - Always strive to use the minimum amount of code necessary. - Write your own javascripts as far as possible. - Optimise images and media, but ensure that the interface comes first. Users don't need all your media loaded all at once. - Cache everything that can be cached. - Unless you have very large amounts of traffic, CDNs will not improve performance but instead introduce multiple points of failure. - Performance audit tools like Lighthouse are helpful, but they cannot replace UX and coding expertise.

Whenever we use a performance audit tool, we found a lot of things that needs to be optimized, and it is also a great source of learning, so next time, whenever you use the same type of code, you will consider that optimal step also, so each time you audit, you learn more and improve your code for next time.

To avoid performance pitfalls, you need to: Simplify the process by having clear, relevant and achievable goals. Measure the right things by aligning your metrics with your desired outcomes. Engage the workforce by communicating clearly, frequently and transparently about the performance management. Break down silos by aligning individual, team and organizational goals. Monitor and evaluate your performance initiatives regularly and make adjustments as needed. Institutionalize performance initiatives by making them part of your culture, systems and processes and rewarding good performance. Optimize your rendering in React.js applications by using hooks, memoization and virtualization.

While tools like ImageOptim and TinyPNG are useful, I highly recommend consulting a graphic designer or utilizing software such as Photoshop to produce high-quality JPG images that maintain a manageable file size. The quality of the original image significantly impacts its optimization potential. From my experience, many clients desire faster load times and better optimization, but the real issue often lies with oversized images.

As software engineers, we often prioritize writing code over optimizing media files. I recommend that readers take some time to consider media optimization from an end-user perspective. Think about what content they would want to see first and consider implementing lazy-loading for the remaining images. This can greatly enhance the user experience.

As a developer, I often face challenges related to graphic loading, which can harm website performance. Avoid PNG images as they tend to be larger, impacting performance. Use efficient formats like JPG or WebP for faster loading. Resize images appropriately for their intended use. For instance, when using a 1980px wide banner image, resizing is crucial to avoid oversized images, which can lead to issues like LCP, affecting user experience. I prefer using Photoshop for precise image resizing and optimization rather than online tools. Photoshop consistently delivers outstanding results for Compressing & resizing images. Also use SVG placeholder while the actual images are loading, It will also improve the loading speed of the website.

In my experience using the exact size of an image in the front end can help to improve drastically the page load, if you also include lazy loading to the formula. You will guarantee that page load is quick, great for the user and great for performance

Resize and crop images to the required dimensions. Compress them using tools like TinyPNG, JPEGmini, or Squoosh. Choose suitable file formats: JPEG for photos, PNG for sharp edges/transparency, and SVG for logos/icons. Optimize videos by compressing or using codecs. Embed videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo for compression and streaming.

To speed up your website, make your images and media files lighter. It's like making them go on a diet! This way, your site loads faster, and people don't have to wait. Use cool tricks like <picture> or <source> tags to make sure your images look great on all devices, whether it's a tiny phone or a big computer screen. It's like having different outfits for different occasions. Tools like ImageOptim, TinyPNG, or WebP can make your images smaller without losing quality. It's like squeezing your clothes into a suitcase – you save space! So, remember these tricks to make your website faster and friendlier for everyone.

Beyond the crucial points highlighted about image optimization, it's equally vital to emphasize the importance of utilizing 'alt' descriptions. These provide search engines with information about the image's content, enhancing SEO efforts. Additionally, from an accessibility perspective, incorporating proper tags ensures that our content is more accessible to individuals with disabilities.

If you are still not using automated server-size image auto-editing (url-transformation), automated filename-renaming and automated alt tag descriptions.. then ur eating my dust :)

Optimizing images are so important, because if it takes years to load, most probably user will leave it. It is the basic and most important factor.

From my experience, optimizing HTML/CSS code is of utmost importance. It's not uncommon to encounter unnecessary lines or superfluous tags. While reducing code is beneficial, the primary focus should be on the quality and simplicity of the code itself. For instance, avoiding redundant property declarations by consolidating them for similar tags is crucial. Many overlook this aspect, resulting in minified files that remain sizeable. The effectiveness of minification is directly tied to the quality of the original code.

Code optimization is your secret weapon for lightning-fast websites. Minifying, which involves stripping away unnecessary characters from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript like comments and whitespace, reduces file sizes and speeds up downloads. Bundling takes it a step further by merging multiple files of the same type into one, slashing the number of HTTP requests and enhancing loading times. To achieve this effortlessly. Your code's slimmed-down efficiency will translate into a blazing-fast user experience. ⚡💻 #WebDevTips

Okay let's be crazy and unconventional like we have budget to spend. Most will not understand and will reject the idea. Consider harnessing the power of quantum computing. While it's not yet a standard practice in web development, the potential speed and computational capabilities of quantum computers could revolutionize how we handle web performance. Alternatively, you could hire a team of AI-powered bots that work tirelessly to analyze and optimize your code, making real-time adjustments to maximize performance. These bots could collaborate seamlessly with your development team, learning from past projects and continuously improving performance.

Minifying code trims the fat from your files. It's like making your backpack lighter for a hike. Smaller files (less HTTP requests) load quicker, and fewer files mean less waiting (improve the load time). You don't have to do it all by hand. Tools like UglifyJS, CSSNano, and Webpack are like magical helpers. They automatically make your code lean and mean. Make minifying and bundling a habit. Regularly doing this keeps your website in top shape. It's like going to the gym to stay fit!

Minifying CSS normally behaves fine but JS minifying and then combining makes problems sometime, so JS should be carefully tested while combining after minifying. You should always keep an eye in browser console to make sure everything looks good.

I agree but that’s not all because the minify process just “remove spaces and comments” and reduce considerable size of your code and as a Software Developer, you also need to maintain the quality of your code, for example do not repeating the same function in too many places or a entire file duplicated, you can use tools such as “Code Climate Quality” for check your code and detect duplications (Just detect, you still need to solve all the problems). Minify and bundle help a lot and the next step is to keep your code up-to-date, clean and concise. (SOLID)

This method often offers a more systematic approach to achieving performance outcomes. For developers, it can sometimes seem like an easy way out of meticulous HTML or element usage. The simpler your components are structured, the quicker they'll render. Additionally, it's vital to ensure that you're importing lightweight libraries relevant to your needs. For instance, while there are numerous date-time libraries available, moment.js is one of the most popular but also has a larger file size. Another comparison is Preact versus React. Thus, choosing the appropriate library for your specific task is crucial.

CloudFlare is a good CDN to start with but it have shown some problems with WordPress ajax and sometime its proxy server slows the website instead of making it faster. If you are facing problem with slow web page after using CDN of CloudFlare let's say try to deactivating it for proxy server.

Personally, I love leveraging CDN to maximize web page speed loads. In an time where we want things to be faster every single time, using technologies such as CDN are critical. AWS CloudFront is my favorite for its ease of setup and modification.

It was better to distinguish between two types of cache. So the sentence of caching means should change more appropriately to Browser cache and server cache. although CDN helpes with bandwidth I don’t see the point to be mentioned here. Bandwidth saves can be done with data compression and minimizing code and etc.

If the project is built on AWS, then CloudFront is a great CDN service as part of the whole suite of AWS services. There are so many ways to use AWS and one good way is to hook up the CloudWatch service to the CloudFront CDN for logging and monitoring purposes.

Caching can improve the performance of a website, especially for repeat visitors, by reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred between the server and the client. CDN can improve the reliability and speed of a website by serving content from a location closer to the user, reducing latency and improving load times. Using tools like Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, or Google Cloud CDN can make it easier to implement caching and CDN for a web page. These tools provide a range of features and options for optimizing web performance.

Remeber these 2 things : 1. use client cach and server cash are complementary. and use one in the absense of other get into the troubles.... 2. Be aware of what you are caching! Do not cach data need authentication or authorization

Caching is a good thing to implement, but for CDN links, I have some concerns, and mostly preferred adding package in web, it not only helps your website to be stable with your compatible versions, but is also helpful for On-Prem (Offline) internal network server deployment.

Do not forget to use appropriate cache management HTTP headers. CDNs bring your asset closer to your users, but it's even better if they do not even have to reach out to the CDN when they have a locally cached version.

Unlock speed with caching wizardry! Server caching stores data on your server, reducing the need to fetch it repeatedly. Local caching, on the user's device, makes returning visitors lightning-fast. Combine these with CDN for the ultimate web performance boost. Tools like Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, or Google Cloud CDN make it a breeze. Serve up speed and performance worldwide! 🚀🌍 #WebDevTips

Lazy loading makes website load faster by delaying the load time for images, but sometime it also reduce the web page speed if lazy load start loading initial images slower than normal. Lazy loading should always ignore first 4 to 5 images so page should look good when its visible.

Totally agreed! Lazy loading is one of the most important techniques that helps in optimizing performance. In my personal experience, the task was to load hundreds of job cards (similar to Monday/Jira cards) seamlessly, and each card had many different types of information. E.g. title, description, the name and pictures of the assignee(s) and equipment(s), job status, etc. In order to achieve a truly seamless experience, we needed to implement lazy loading at multiple points. The cards themselves were loaded in a lazy load manner and so was the information on cards. E.g. the pictures of the assignee(s) and equipment(s) and job status. This optimization improved the performance and speed of the web page significantly!

Lazy loading is a great technique and also the need of big web projects, because loading everything at start might annoy the users, and showing only required thing quickly and efficiently. Also for the mobile responsive websites, it is helpful for the users with low mobile data. Sometimes there becomes a scenario where we want Eager loading but mostly lazy loading is the best option to choose.

Implement lazy loading techniques to load images only when they become visible on the screen. This greatly reduces the time it takes for a page to load, particularly for pages containing numerous images.

Level up your web performance with lazy loading! Load content only when it's needed or visible to users. Think images, videos, and scripts – they'll spring to life as users scroll or interact. Trim loading time, conserve bandwidth, and amp up user experience. Go native with 'loading="lazy"' for images and iframes, or wield the IntersectionObserver API for other elements. Or, power up with libraries like Lozad.js, LazySizes, or Vanilla LazyLoad. Lazy loading for a faster, smarter web! ⚡🖥️ #WebDevTips

This is still something very little developpers implement inside their own applications. Unless you are actively creating files who weigh a ton (especially css & js), you will probably use the other methods explained in this article. This is also true concerning apps that are javascript based, say React. Blocking the scripts from rendering with the webpage is not the best way forward. You will unintentionally add delay to your page's rendering even though most of your rendering, if not all, comes from the loading of your js ressources; not your html which usually ends up pretty bare.

Render blocking let the whole structure of HTML load first then start loading the CSS and JS resources which makes web page look complete and fine in layout while its still loading. If the HTML structure is not completely loaded and browser start downloading CSS and JS files before completing the HTML side then page would look broken or misplaced.

Everything is great but the most important factor is the performance and response time of web server if you are on a good web server and its response time and network is great in delivering results. No matter how large your web page is it will load nicely.

User experience is important and that you do not want your users to be faced with long loading times on pages displaying a blank white screen. Understand that some data are huge and requires more time to load, so always provide some feedbacks while doing so. A simple skeleton loader should suffice for most circumstances. Accessibility is also another area where the future of web development has really put focus on. MDN and W3C have a good set of guidelines for accessibility features documented on their respective websites. We can use aria labels to provide the necessary support for screen readers. Another aspect to take note of is the colour contrast ratio. It is important for text legibility.

Great pointers given here. It is also important to mention Database Optimization. For most times, the application will be interacting with a database, and performance can be improved by these as well: 1. Properly indexing DB tables helps to quickly retrieve data. 2. Caching, can help to reduce DB server load by keeping frequently accesed data in memory. 3. Optimizing queries help in efficient data retrieval by using appropriate joins and selecting only necessary data. Also application server load can be reduced by scaling and using load balancers to reduce pressure on a single server, that's if it's a large application.

Is webassembly the way forward? If one thinks about it Web Development has been… to say the least … strange! What started as a way to render (research) documents using an URL has shifted towards becoming a UI paradigm. We have come up with CSS for better layout and Javascript to add interactivity: interpreted code where the source code is transferred to the client and using obfuscation to make reverse engineering a bit harder. We even built developer tools into consumer products.. All in all a recipe for disaster if you ask me and I secretly hope that mister Berners-Lee agrees with this. But hey… VHS won over Video 2000 so similarly the Web is here to stay. So perhaps (even not so) recent developments in Web assembly are the way forward

test and monitor your website's performance using tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix..etc. These tools offer Good insights and recommendations to optimize your website's images and media.

In web development, data handling and loop practices impact performance. Here are some tips: • Select Optimal Data Structures: Use structures like hash maps for faster lookups than arrays. • Minimize DOM Access: Store data in variables before loops to reduce DOM interactions. • Choose Efficient Loops: While for-each loops are readable, traditional for loops might be faster. • Exit Loops Early: Use break when further iterations aren't beneficial. • Avoid Nested Loops: They can drastically increase iterations. • Prefer Local Variables: They're often faster than global ones. • Use Functional Programming Judiciously: Avoid excessive chaining of methods like map or filter.

Consider the privacy of your web page visitors. There are less intrusive ways to get basic analytics for your pages besides intrusive services likes Google Analytics.

The factors like infrastructure, performance, response times, deployment region, Network resources of the web server, etc. also play a vital role in the overall performance of the whole web application. If the front end is fully optimized but the web server is taking more than expected time to return the required resources then the front end optimization is of no use So both ends so be considered in order to achieve the maximum possible output and fully optimized customer experience.

In my experience, I can say there are many angles to take in consideration. In the software angle all is about architecture and how you will implement your code base and what deployment strategies you will use because as a software developer regardless of media files and may be the data we must create and enhance what is given. In the other angles we should take considerations and study the end users needs and make sure we are filling what s expected.

Whenever team leaders review the Pull Request of other developers, they must consider the above factors for each feature, so that code becomes optimized from the beginning, because later on optimizing the thing sometimes creates mess and they either skip the code optimization or need a lot of rewriting of code, and need QA as well for the already well tested code.