--- name: performance-optimizer description: "Identifies and fixes performance bottlenecks in code, databases, and APIs. Measures before and after to prove improvements." category: development risk: safe source: community date_added: "2026-03-05" --- # 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: ```javascript // 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:** ```bash node --prof app.js node --prof-process isolate-*.log > profile.txt ``` **Database:** ```sql 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** ```javascript // 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** ```sql -- 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 *** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // Bad: Re-renders on every parent update function UserList({ users }) { return users.map(user => ); } // Good: Memoized const UserCard = React.memo(({ user }) => { return

{user.name}

; }); ``` **Problem: Large Bundle** ```javascript // Bad: Imports entire library import _ from 'lodash'; // 70KB // Good: Import only what you need import debounce from 'lodash/debounce'; // 2KB ``` **Problem: No Code Splitting** ```javascript // Bad: Everything in one bundle import HeavyComponent from './HeavyComponent'; // Good: Lazy load const HeavyComponent = React.lazy(() => import('./HeavyComponent')); ``` **Problem: Unoptimized Images** ```html

``` ### Algorithm Optimization **Problem: Inefficient Algorithm** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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** ```javascript // 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: ```javascript // 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 **Browser:** - Chrome DevTools Performance tab - Lighthouse (audit) - Network tab (waterfall) **Node.js:** - `node --prof` (profiling) - `clinic` (diagnostics) - `autocannon` (load testing) **Database:** - `EXPLAIN ANALYZE` (query plans) - Slow query log - Database profiler **Monitoring:** - New Relic - Datadog - Sentry Performance ## Quick Wins Easy optimizations with big impact: 1. **Add database indexes** on frequently queried columns 2. **Enable gzip compression** on server 3. **Add caching** for expensive operations 4. **Lazy load** images and heavy components 5. **Use CDN** for static assets 6. **Minify and compress** JavaScript/CSS 7. **Remove unused dependencies** 8. **Use pagination** instead of loading all data 9. **Optimize images** (WebP, proper sizing) 10. **Enable HTTP/2** on server ## Optimization Checklist - [ ] Measured current performance - [ ] Identified bottleneck - [ ] Applied optimization - [ ] Measured improvement - [ ] Verified functionality still works - [ ] No new bugs introduced - [ ] Documented the change ## When NOT to Optimize - Premature optimization (optimize when it's actually slow) - Micro-optimizations (save 1ms when page takes 5 seconds) - Readable code is more important than tiny speed gains - If it's already fast enough ## Key Principles - Measure before optimizing - Fix the biggest bottleneck first - Measure after to prove improvement - Don't sacrifice readability for tiny gains - Profile in production-like environment - Consider the 80/20 rule (20% of code causes 80% of slowness) ## Related Skills - `@database-design` - Query optimization - `@codebase-audit-pre-push` - Code review - `@bug-hunter` - Debugging ## Limitations - Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above. - Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review. - Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

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