high-perf-browser

# High Performance Browser Networking Framework

A systematic approach to web performance grounded in how browsers, protocols, and networks actually work. Apply these principles when building frontend applications, setting performance budgets, configuring servers, or diagnosing slow page loads.

## Core Principle

**Latency, not bandwidth, is the bottleneck.** Most web performance problems stem from too many round trips, not too little throughput. A 5x bandwidth increase yields diminishing returns; a 5x latency reduction transforms the user experience.

**The foundation:** Every request passes through DNS resolution, TCP handshake, TLS negotiation, and HTTP exchange before a single byte of content arrives — each step adding round-trip latency. High-performance applications minimize round trips, parallelize requests, and eliminate unnecessary network hops. Understanding the protocol stack is the prerequisite for meaningful optimization.

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** When reviewing or building web applications, rate performance 0-10 based on adherence to the principles below. A 10/10 means full alignment with all guidelines; lower scores indicate gaps to address. Always provide the current score and the specific improvements needed to reach 10/10.

## The High Performance Browser Networking Framework

Six domains for building fast, resilient web applications:

### 1. Network Fundamentals

**Core concept:** Every HTTP request pays a latency tax — DNS lookup, TCP three-way handshake, TLS negotiation — before any application data flows. Reducing or eliminating these round trips is the single highest-leverage optimization.

**Why it works:** Light travels at a finite speed: a New York–London packet takes ~28ms one way regardless of bandwidth. These physics-level constraints cannot be solved with bigger pipes — only with fewer trips.

**Key insights:**
- TCP three-way handshake adds one full RTT before data transfer begins
- TCP slow start limits initial throughput to ~14KB (10 segments) in the first round trip — keep critical resources under this threshold
- TLS 1.2 adds 2 RTTs; TLS 1.3 reduces this to 1 RTT (0-RTT with session resumption)
- Head-of-line blocking in TCP means one lost packet stalls all streams on that connection
- Bandwidth-delay product caps in-flight data; high-latency links underutilize bandwidth

**Code applications:**

| Context | Pattern | Example |
|---------|---------|---------|
| **Connection warmup** | Pre-establish connections to critical origins | `<link rel="preconnect" href="https://cdn.example.com">` |
| **DNS prefetch** | Resolve third-party domains early (saves 20-120ms) | `<link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://analytics.example.com">` |
| **TLS optimization** | TLS 1.3 + session resumption | `ssl_protocols TLSv1.3;` with session tickets |
| **Connection reuse** | Keep-alive avoids repeated handshakes | `Connection: keep-alive` (default in HTTP/1.1+) |

See: [references/network-fundamentals.md](references/network-fundamentals.md) for TCP congestion control, bandwidth-delay product, and TLS handshake details.

### 2. HTTP Protocol Evolution

**Core concept:** HTTP evolved from a simple request-response protocol into a multiplexed, binary system. Choosing the right protocol version and configuring it properly eliminates entire categories of performance problems.

**Why it works:** HTTP/1.1 forces workarounds (domain sharding, sprites, concatenation) because it cannot multiplex. HTTP/2 multiplexes but inherits TCP head-of-line blocking; HTTP/3 (QUIC over UDP) eliminates it. Each generation removes a bottleneck — and makes the previous generation's workarounds counterproductive.

**Key insights:**
- HTTP/1.1 allows one outstanding request per TCP connection; browsers open 6 per host as a workaround
- HTTP/2 multiplexes unlimited streams over one connection — domain sharding becomes counterproductive
- HPACK header compression in HTTP/2 cuts repetitive header overhead by 85-95%
- HTTP/3 (QUIC) eliminates TCP head-of-line blocking and enables 0-RTT resumption and connection migration
- Prefer `103 Early Hints` over HTTP/2 Server Push (which over-pushes and is widely deprecated)
- Connection coalescing lets one HTTP/2 connection serve multiple hostnames sharing a certificate

**Code applications:**

| Context | Pattern | Example |
|---------|---------|---------|
| **HTTP/2 migration** | Remove HTTP/1.1 workarounds | Undo domain sharding, sprites, file concatenation |
| **103 Early Hints** | Send preload hints before the full response | `103` with `Link: </style.css>; rel=preload` |
| **QUIC/HTTP/3** | Advertise HTTP/3 on CDN or origin | `Alt-Svc: h3=":443"` header |
| **Stream prioritization** | Signal resource importance | CSS and fonts highest priority; images lower |

See: [references/http-protocols.md](references/http-protocols.md) for protocol comparison, migration strategies, and server push vs. Early Hints.

### 3. Resource Loading and Critical Rendering Path

**Core concept:** The browser must build the DOM, CSSOM, and render tree before painting pixels: HTML → DOM → CSSOM → Render Tree → Layout → Paint → Composite. Any resource that blocks this pipeline delays first paint.

**Why it works:** CSS is render-blocking (no paint until CSSOM is ready) while JavaScript is parser-blocking (`<script>` halts DOM construction until it downloads and executes) — so each needs a different optimization strategy. Every blocking resource adds latency directly to time-to-first-paint.

**Key insights:**
- `async` downloads in parallel and executes immediately (use for independent scripts); `defer` downloads in parallel but executes after DOM parsing (use for most scripts)
- `<link rel="preload">` fetches critical resources at high priority now; `rel="prefetch"` fetches likely next-navigation resources at low priority
- Inline above-the-fold CSS and async-load the rest to eliminate the render-blocking CSS request
- Fonts can block text rendering for up to 3s — use `font-displ