Performance Optimizer

Find and fix performance bottlenecks. Measure, optimize, verify. Make it fast.

When to Use This Skill

App is slow or laggy
User complains about performance
Page load times are high
API responses are slow
Database queries take too long
User mentions "slow", "lag", "performance", or "optimize"

The Optimization Process

1. Measure First

Never optimize without measuring:

// Measure execution time
console.time('operation');
await slowOperation();
console.timeEnd('operation'); // operation: 2341ms

What to measure:

Page load time
API response time
Database query time
Function execution time
Memory usage
Network requests

2. Find the Bottleneck

Use profiling tools to find the slow parts:

Browser:

DevTools → Performance tab → Record → Stop
Look for long tasks (red bars)

Node.js:

node --prof app.js
node --prof-process isolate-*.log > profile.txt

Database:

EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = 'test@example.com';

3. Optimize

Fix the slowest thing first (biggest impact).

Common Optimizations

Database Queries

Problem: N+1 Queries

// Bad: N+1 queries
const users = await db.users.find();
for (const user of users) {
  user.posts = await db.posts.find({ userId: user.id }); // N queries
}

// Good: Single query with JOIN
const users = await db.users.find()
  .populate('posts'); // 1 query

Problem: Missing Index

-- Check slow query
EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = 'test@example.com';
-- Shows: Seq Scan (bad)

-- Add index
CREATE INDEX idx_users_email ON users(email);

-- Check again
EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = 'test@example.com';
-- Shows: Index Scan (good)

**Problem: SELECT ***

// Bad: Fetches all columns
const users = await db.query('SELECT * FROM users');

// Good: Only needed columns
const users = await db.query('SELECT id, name, email FROM users');

Problem: No Pagination

// Bad: Returns all records
const users = await db.users.find();

// Good: Paginated
const users = await db.users.find()
  .limit(20)
  .skip((page - 1) * 20);

API Performance

Problem: No Caching

// Bad: Hits database every time
app.get('/api/stats', async (req, res) => {
  const stats = await db.stats.calculate(); // Slow
  res.json(stats);
});

// Good: Cache for 5 minutes
const cache = new Map();
app.get('/api/stats', async (req, res) => {
  const cached = cache.get('stats');
  if (cached && Date.now() - cached.time < 300000) {
    return res.json(cached.data);
  }
  
  const stats = await db.stats.calculate();
  cache.set('stats', { data: stats, time: Date.now() });
  res.json(stats);
});

Problem: Sequential Operations

// Bad: Sequential (slow)
const user = await getUser(id);
const posts = await getPosts(id);
const comments = await getComments(id);
// Total: 300ms + 200ms + 150ms = 650ms

// Good: Parallel (fast)
const [user, posts, comments] = await Promise.all([
  getUser(id),
  getPosts(id),
  getComments(id)
]);
// Total: max(300ms, 200ms, 150ms) = 300ms

Problem: Large Payloads

// Bad: Returns everything
res.json(users); // 5MB response

// Good: Only needed fields
res.json(users.map(u => ({
  id: u.id,
  name: u.name,
  email: u.email
}))); // 500KB response

Frontend Performance

Problem: Unnecessary Re-renders

// Bad: Re-renders on every parent update
function UserList({ users }) {
  return users.map(user => <UserCard user={user} />);
}

// Good: Memoized
const UserCard = React.memo(({ user }) => {
  return <div>{user.name}</div>;
});

Problem: Large Bundle

// Bad: Imports entire library
import _ from 'lodash'; // 70KB

// Good: Import only what you need
import debounce from 'lodash/debounce'; // 2KB

Problem: No Code Splitting

// Bad: Everything in one bundle
import HeavyComponent from './HeavyComponent';

// Good: Lazy load
const HeavyComponent = React.lazy(() => import('./HeavyComponent'));

Problem: Unoptimized Images

<!-- Bad: Large image -->
<img src="photo.jpg" /> <!-- 5MB -->

<!-- Good: Optimized and responsive -->
<img 
  src="photo-small.webp" 
  srcset="photo-small.webp 400w, photo-large.webp 800w"
  loading="lazy"
  width="400"
  height="300"
/> <!-- 50KB -->

Algorithm Optimization

Problem: Inefficient Algorithm

// Bad: O(n²) - nested loops
function findDuplicates(arr) {
  const duplicates = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
    for (let j = i + 1; j < arr.length; j++) {
      if (arr[i] === arr[j]) duplicates.push(arr[i]);
    }
  }
  return duplicates;
}

// Good: O(n) - single pass with Set
function findDuplicates(arr) {
  const seen = new Set();
  const duplicates = new Set();
  for (const item of arr) {
    if (seen.has(item)) duplicates.add(item);
    seen.add(item);
  }
  return Array.from(duplicates);
}

Problem: Repeated Calculations

// Bad: Calculates every time
function getTotal(items) {
  return items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price * item.quantity, 0);
}
// Called 100 times in render

// Good: Memoized
const getTotal = useMemo(() => {
  return items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price * item.quantity, 0);
}, [items]);

Memory Optimization

Problem: Memory Leak

// Bad: Event listener not cleaned up
useEffect(() => {
  window.addEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
  // Memory leak!
}, []);

// Good: Cleanup
useEffect(() => {
  window.addEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
  return () => window.removeEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
}, []);

Problem: Large Data in Memory

// Bad: Loads entire file into memory
const data = fs.readFileSync('huge-file.txt'); // 1GB

// Good: Stream it
const stream = fs.createReadStream('huge-file.txt');
stream.on('data', chunk => process(chunk));

Measuring Impact

Always measure before and after:

// Before optimization
console.time('query');
const users = await db.users.find();
console.timeEnd('query');
// query: 2341ms

// After optimization (added index)
console.time('query');
const users = await db.users.find();
console.timeEnd('query');
// query: 23ms

// Improvement: 100x faster!

Performance Budgets

Set targets:

Page Load: < 2 seconds
API Response: < 200ms
Database Query: < 50ms
Bundle Size: < 200KB
Time to Interactive: < 3 seconds

Tools