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RailsConf 2018: How We Made Our App So Fast it Went Viral in Japan by Ben Halpern We put a lot of effort into web speed for our website dev.to. One day in November we woke to our greatest traffic day ever, and the source was Japanese Dev-Twitter catching wind of just how fast a site could be. American websites don't typically give so much care to global performance, but it pays off if you do. In this talk I will describe how we think about performance.
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In the video titled 'How We Made Our App So Fast it Went Viral in Japan,' Ben Halpern discusses the performance optimization strategies employed for the website dev.to, which led to a surge in traffic, particularly from Japan. The main theme revolves around the importance of web speed and responsiveness for global audiences. Halpern recounts the unexpected viral success of dev.to after a few influencers in Japan praised its speed, resulting in a million page views from Japanese users shortly after the event. Key points include: - **Origins of dev.to**: Ben Halpern originally started dev.to as a personal project, intending to provide a fast and reliable platform for developers to share programming resources without the clutter and slowness found on other sites. - **The viral moment**: On November 15, 2017, dev.to experienced massive traffic, attributed mainly to positive mentions on Japanese Twitter. Despite initial skepticism about bots driving the traffic, it turned out to be genuine interest from developers. - **Technical constraints of web performance**: Halpern highlights the impact of latency due to geographical distance, emphasizing that the speed of light limits how fast data can travel over long distances. For users in Japan accessing a site hosted in the U.S., every request incurs significant delay. - **Strategies for speed**: He offers insights into various technical implementations: - Using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) to deliver content from locations closer to users, reducing load times. - Implementing caching strategies to speed up web experience, including asynchronous loading of resources and the use of critical path CSS. - Minimizing reliance on JavaScript by ensuring that essential parts of the website load quickly and operate smoothly under poor network conditions. - **Lessons on inclusivity**: Halpern argues that performance is essential for inclusivity, ensuring that websites are accessible and functional across various network conditions worldwide. - **Call to action**: He encourages developers to focus on performance over flashy features, stating that prioritizing speed can lead to a more enjoyable user experience. In conclusion, Ben Halpern points out that building a fast website involves recognizing geographic constraints, leveraging performance-oriented design principles, and continuously optimizing to meet global user needs. The success of dev.to serves as a model for creating fast, reliable web applications that engage users worldwide.
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