How to Boost Web App Performance

API performance issues can silently erode user experience, strain resources, and ultimately impact your bottom line. I've grappled with these challenges firsthand. Here are the critical pain points I've encountered, and the solutions that turned things around: 𝗦𝗹𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Users abandoning applications due to frustratingly slow API responses. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Implementing a robust caching strategy. Redis for server-side caching and proper use of HTTP caching headers dramatically reduced response times. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗞𝗻𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Complex queries causing significant lag and occasionally crashing our servers during peak loads. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Strategic indexing on frequently queried columns Rigorous query optimization using EXPLAIN Tackling the notorious N+1 query problem, especially in ORM usage 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Large data transfers eating up bandwidth and slowing down mobile users. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Adopting more efficient serialization methods. While JSON is the go-to, MessagePack significantly reduced payload sizes without sacrificing usability. 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Critical endpoints becoming unresponsive during traffic spikes. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Implementing asynchronous processing for resource-intensive tasks Designing a more thoughtful pagination and filtering system to manage large datasets efficiently 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Struggling to identify and address performance issues before they impact users. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Establishing a comprehensive monitoring and profiling system to catch and diagnose issues early. 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: What worked for thousands of users started to crumble with millions. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Implementing effective load balancing Optimizing network performance with techniques like content compression Upgrading to HTTP/2 for improved multiplexing and reduced latency By addressing these pain points head-on, we can significantly improve user satisfaction and reduce operational costs. What challenges have you faced with API performance? How did you overcome them? Gif Credit - Nelson Djalo

What if I told you getting users to stay on your website isn’t just about design? It’s about website performance 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 When users scroll or click quickly, it can overwhelm the site. I used a technique called “debouncing” to handle scroll events without affecting performance. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 Most developers forget about unused code sitting in their projects. I used tree-shaking to remove all unnecessary code—saving over 200 KB of file size. 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲 Many skip this step to save time. I enabled strict mode in TypeScript, which caught multiple bugs even before the code was live. 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗜𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 Instead of loading the whole site at once, I broke it into smaller parts (code-splitting). Only the required pieces load, which cut the page load time in half. 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 Most developers only lazy-load images, but I also applied it to heavy components. This made the site responsive even with slower internet. On a project for a real estate website, I noticed something most developers ignore: The site was loading every 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲, even for users who didn’t need them. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱: I split the code into smaller pieces, so users only loaded what they needed. Enabled lazy-loading for the property search filters (which took up a lot of resources). Removed unused components using tree-shaking, cutting the 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝟯𝟬%. Used TypeScript to enforce stricter checks, avoiding runtime crashes users were previously experiencing. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? Load time improved by 60%. Website performance increased by 40%. And the client noticed a significant increase in inquiries. Want to know more? Which of these techniques are you using in your projects? Let me know in the comments! #ai #website #tech #performance #growth

Your app could be 50% faster with one simple fix. And most developers completely ignore it. Ready? Image optimization. That’s it. Not AI. Not some new JS framework. Just… resizing, compressing, and properly loading your images. Why does it matter? Because images often make up 60–70% of a page’s weight. And when you skip optimization, your app moves like a 90s dial-up connection. I’ve seen apps cut load times in half just by swapping high-res PNGs for compressed JPEGs or WebP. But here’s what usually happens: → Devs tweak backend logic for hours → Chase framework performance gains → Meanwhile, users are stuck watching a spinning loader And every second they wait? You’re losing: ❌ Conversions ❌ Credibility ❌ Cash Before you start tearing apart your stack, ask this: Have we optimized the basics? Because sometimes, the difference between “good” and “great” is just a smaller file size. 👉 Follow David Robinson for no-fluff engineering advice that makes your software faster, leaner, and built to scale.