Michele Riva

Things I learned while writing high-performance JavaScript applications

We built a full-text search engine in JavaScript that rivals Rust's performance. Here's how we did it using four key principles.

Things I learned while writing high-performance JavaScript applications
#1about 5 minutes

The four pillars of high-performance JavaScript

JavaScript can be as fast as lower-level languages by focusing on four key areas: algorithms, dependencies, optimizations, and architecture.

#2about 5 minutes

The importance of algorithms and data structures

Learning algorithms should be driven by practical goals like side projects, not just passing interviews at large tech companies.

#3about 4 minutes

Managing dependencies for better performance

Categorize dependencies as inevitable, convenient, or empowering to avoid unnecessary overhead from general-purpose libraries like Lodash.

#4about 6 minutes

Optimizing code by understanding the V8 runtime

Write faster code by using imperative programming, understanding V8 engine features like TurboFan, and using monomorphic functions.

#5about 4 minutes

How software architecture impacts performance

Performance strategies must adapt to the execution environment, such as browsers, servers, or constrained nano services like Cloudflare Workers.

#6about 2 minutes

Balancing performance metrics beyond raw speed

Consider performance trade-offs between raw execution speed, iteration speed for development, and team onboarding efficiency.

#7about 2 minutes

Q&A on TypeScript, clean code, and algorithms

The speaker answers audience questions about using TypeScript without performance penalties, the trade-offs of "dirty" code, and Dijkstra's algorithm.

Related jobs
Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.

Job ad Dark

SabIna compys

SabIna compys
Vienna, Austria

Remote
€20-100K
Intermediate
JavaScript
.NET
+1

Matching moments

Introducing Lyra, a fast TypeScript search engine
02:18 MIN

Introducing Lyra, a fast TypeScript search engine

Writing a full-text search engine in TypeScript

The two primary approaches for improving frontend performance
01:57 MIN

The two primary approaches for improving frontend performance

To New Frontiers: The Future of Frontend Development

Why JavaScript and TypeScript dominate modern development
03:57 MIN

Why JavaScript and TypeScript dominate modern development

Modern Headless Commerce with Vendure

Why front-end performance matters for business success
01:56 MIN

Why front-end performance matters for business success

Multithreading in Javascript: A guide to Web Workers

Navigating the complexity of performance debugging tools
06:13 MIN

Navigating the complexity of performance debugging tools

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Rendering in the Browser, The State of CSS and Accessibility and more

Q&A on performance, interfaces, and advanced learning
04:23 MIN

Q&A on performance, interfaces, and advanced learning

Where we're going we don't need JavaScript - Programming with Type Annotations

Audience Q&A on functional programming concepts
06:04 MIN

Audience Q&A on functional programming concepts

A Guide To Functional Programming

The performance problem with modern web applications
02:44 MIN

The performance problem with modern web applications

Qwik: Making sure that easy is same as performant

Featured Partners

Related Videos

See all videos
Writing a full-text search engine in TypeScript39:39

Writing a full-text search engine in TypeScript

Michele Riva

The Lean Web46:46

The Lean Web

Chris Ferdinandi

1, 2, 3... Fastify!42:08

1, 2, 3... Fastify!

Matteo Collina

Get ready to Rustle31:20

Get ready to Rustle

Marco Otte-Witte

Catching up on the basics you don't really need that much code14:44

Catching up on the basics you don't really need that much code

Chris Heilmann

Jamstack and Web Performance, a match made in heaven42:04

Jamstack and Web Performance, a match made in heaven

Tamas Piros

Multithreading in Javascript: A guide to Web Workers23:14

Multithreading in Javascript: A guide to Web Workers

Dani Coll

The Illusion of a Performant Web Application28:56

The Illusion of a Performant Web Application

Cathrin Möller

Related Articles

View all articles
CH
Chris Heilmann
Dev Digest 136 - No JS(on) of mine
News and ArticlesDouglas Crockford is our featured video, so let's talk about evolving JavaScript and all things JSON. Judicious JSON explains all the weird things in it, you can learn why it can be incredibly slow, people wonder what even is a JSON ...
Dev Digest 136 - No JS(on) of mine
LM
Luis Minvielle
The Best JavaScript Framework to Learn
When the Greek mastermind Heraclitus, millennia ago, claimed that “the only constant is change,” he certainly pepped up Star Wars creator George Lucas to perpetually re-do shots crucial to the canon storyline or even paved the way for grocery stores ...
The Best JavaScript Framework to Learn
LM
Luis Minvielle
The Best Upcoming IT Webinars
Now that you already know what IT webinars are and how they can help you level up your professional appeal, you might want actually to get into one. Live tech webinars are one of the best ways to stay on top of the latest trends and tools because eit...
The Best Upcoming IT Webinars

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.

Frontend Developer

Frontend Developer

JO Media Software Solutions GmBh
Brunn am Gebirge, Austria

Senior
CSS
Angular
JavaScript
TypeScript