CODEWITHSUNDEEP
optimizationwebgzipcdnyslow
John Smith
John Smith

Reputation: 8851

How important are website optimizations?

Currently I am running Apache and MySQL and I hear about people talking about GZipping content, something about ETags, using a CDN, adding expire headers, minifying text documents, combining script files, etc. I downloaded a Firefox add-on called YSlow and I noticed that many websites do not employ all of these tactics. I believe even Google has a D rating. So I ask, SO, how important are these optimizations?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 83

Answers (3)

Abe Miessler
Abe Miessler

Reputation: 85096

Honestly, if people aren't complaining it's probably not a big deal. If people are complaining, start by looking at the database.

In my years of web development most web application performance problems have stemmed from the DB (this doesn't mean that all performance problems come from the DB but it's a good place to start). While I am fascinated for things like minified JS and css sprites, I suspect that these things do not make a difference in a "day in the life of your average web developer".

It's good that you consider these things, but unless you are working at an extremely high traffic site, it probably won't make a difference.

Upvotes: 2

tamarintech
tamarintech

Reputation: 1992

It all depends on your application.

Minifying, for example, might be great for an application that is very external .js dependent. There is no reason NOT to do this - there is no overhead required and it potentially saves quite a few bytes.

Compression is great for certain content types - terrible for others and involves a slight overhead while transporting pages.

CDNs are up to your affordability, content type and how dynamic the content is. You obviously don't need Akamai backing up the average Drupal site.

etc, etc, etc

Upvotes: 1

alex
alex

Reputation: 490423

They depend highly on your traffic and resources at your disposal.

If you make the website for Joe's Pizza in the middle of nowhere, there is no real need to waste time optimising the site, it will likely have a handful of visits a day.

But Stack Overflow receives thousands of hits a minute (probably more), so they use a CDN, distant expiry headers, minification, etc.

Upvotes: 3

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