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By Steve Souders
First Edition
September 2007
Pages: 168
ISBN 10: 0-596-52930-9 |
ISBN 13: 9780596529307
(Average of 7 Customer Reviews)
Want to speed up your web site? This book presents 14 specific rules that will cut 20% to 25% off response time when users request a page. Author Steve Souders, in his job as Chief Performance Yahoo!, collected these best practices while optimizing some of the most-visited pages on the Web. Even sites that had already been highly optimized were able to benefit from these surprisingly simple performance guidelines.
Full Description
Want your web site to display more quickly? This book presents 14 specific rules that will cut 25% to 50% off response time when users request a page. Author Steve Souders, in his job as Chief Performance Yahoo!, collected these best practices while optimizing some of the most-visited pages on the Web. Even sites that had already been highly optimized, such as Yahoo! Search and the Yahoo! Front Page, were able to benefit from these surprisingly simple performance guidelines.
The rules in High Performance Web Sites explain how you can optimize the performance of the Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and images that you've already built into your site -- adjustments that are critical for any rich web application. Other sources of information pay a lot of attention to tuning web servers, databases, and hardware, but the bulk of display time is taken up on the browser side and by the communication between server and browser. High Performance Web Sites covers every aspect of that process.
Each performance rule is supported by specific examples, and code snippets are available on the book's companion web site. The rules include how to:
"If everyone would implement just 20% of Steve's guidelines, the Web would be a dramatically better place. Between this book and Steve's YSlow extension, there's really no excuse for having a sluggish web site anymore."
-Joe Hewitt, Developer of Firebug debugger and Mozilla's DOM Inspector
"Steve Souders has done a fantastic job of distilling a massive, semi-arcane art down to a set of concise, actionable, pragmatic engineering steps that will change the world of web performance."
-Eric Lawrence, Developer of the Fiddler Web Debugger, Microsoft Corporation
Post-purchase benefits:
The rules in High Performance Web Sites explain how you can optimize the performance of the Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and images that you've already built into your site -- adjustments that are critical for any rich web application. Other sources of information pay a lot of attention to tuning web servers, databases, and hardware, but the bulk of display time is taken up on the browser side and by the communication between server and browser. High Performance Web Sites covers every aspect of that process.
Each performance rule is supported by specific examples, and code snippets are available on the book's companion web site. The rules include how to:
- Make Fewer HTTP Requests
- Use a Content Delivery Network
- Add an Expires Header
- Gzip Components
- Put Stylesheets at the Top
- Put Scripts at the Bottom
- Avoid CSS Expressions
- Make JavaScript and CSS External
- Reduce DNS Lookups
- Minify JavaScript
- Avoid Redirects
- Remove Duplicates Scripts
- Configure ETags
- Make Ajax Cacheable
"If everyone would implement just 20% of Steve's guidelines, the Web would be a dramatically better place. Between this book and Steve's YSlow extension, there's really no excuse for having a sluggish web site anymore."
-Joe Hewitt, Developer of Firebug debugger and Mozilla's DOM Inspector
"Steve Souders has done a fantastic job of distilling a massive, semi-arcane art down to a set of concise, actionable, pragmatic engineering steps that will change the world of web performance."
-Eric Lawrence, Developer of the Fiddler Web Debugger, Microsoft Corporation
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Book details
First Edition: September 2007
ISBN: 0-596-52930-9
Pages: 168
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 7 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Excellent Book, April 20 2008
Rating:
Submitted by
Ahmed Hashim
[Respond | View]
High Performance Web Sites by Steve Souders is one of the most important books front end engineers should read to be able to develop a proper web sites. In 14 chapter, you will know 14 of the best tips to enhance the performance of your website. The good thing in this book, it is quick read and specific, the author gives example by numbers and statistics about the top 10 websites on the internet. In each tip Steve tells the effect of applying this tip on the top 10 websites.
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In this book, you will learn some great tips in web development like (Minimizing the number of Http Requests sent to the server, improve the caching in your site, compressing the content to save time and resources, best location for scripts and styles and other interesting tips)
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I highly recommend any engineer working in the front end tier to read this book and apply the tips inside on the web pages.
<br/>
Ahmed Hashim (http://weblogs.java.net/blog/ahashim/) , EGJUG (http://www.egjug.org) Leader, Software Engineer, Etisalat (http://www.etisalat.com.eg)
Bang (and Performance) for your Buck, November 26 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
joshSVUG
[Respond | View]
If you are looking to speedup your website – start here.
This easy read covers 14 front-end performance tips. Not all may be applicable. Any tips implemented resulting in improving your user’s experience, be it a high-traffic website or a corporate intranet, is worth the cost of the book.
Just do a Google search, October 31 2007
Rating:
Submitted by Anonymous Reader [Respond | View]
I was very pleased with this book, having spent many hours trying to find this sort of information in an understandable and comprehensive format on the web. The book is everything I'd hoped it would be, and my website now runs much faster as a result.
However, after buying the book (and paying for shipping to NZ, which is around the same cost as the book itself) I was not that thrilled to suddenly find "articles" popping up all over the internet basically quoting the entire book verbatim. Save your hard-earned cash and just google it.
Excellent, Concise Guide, October 31 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
Justin Pease
[Respond | View]
One of the most noticeable and least expensive improvements you can make to increase the speed of your website is to implement these front-end techniques.
It is true that, the 14 principles can be found in the description of the book, or with the excellent YSlow tool delivered by Yahoo! Developer Network.
So why should you buy the book??
The book explains "why" these 14 principles are best, and it does so in a concise format.
If you currently work professionally with the front-end side of a website (or would like to someday) this book should be considered a required read. At less than US$30, it is an inexpensive and practical investment into your on-going education.
Don't settle with just knowing "how" to make your site faster, get the book and learn "why" these steps make your site faster. You'll be a better and more valuable developer for it.
A Great Resource!, October 04 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
Jen B.
[Respond | View]
This book is extremely well organized and easy to read. It is code-oriented; server and database tuning are not addressed though some general ideas are discussed in passing.
Narrative explanations are combined with real world examples and code samples to illustrate each of the fourteen "rules" for tuning a web site. He clearly explains the pros and cons of each option, and why some techniques are better than others. He provides a primary recommendation but also discusses other options at length. This book is scalable to help developers of small-business web sites up to enterprise e-commerce sites.
Many of the "rules" are not necessarily a surprise to anyone with much web development experience. However the speed comparison charts and illustrations are extremely helpful, and many helpful "gold nuggets" of information are also sprinkled throughout.
After a full read, this book is now on my shelf within easy reach so that I can refer to the invaluable tips and code samples. I highly recommend that any serious web developer add this book to their bookshelf!
Well organized tips and tricks on web site performance, October 03 2007
Rating:
Submitted by
jdruin
[Respond | View]
This book is an excellent guide for web developers looking to write optimized HTML. The book is organized into 14 categories of performance enhancements with a chapter decicated to each category. There is also a chapter on techniques in use by top websites, a chapter on HTTP as it applies to performace, and a chapter on the "Golden Rule" of web page preformance (Most time is not spend downloading the main page).
With each of the performance category chapters is a break down of the tips and tricks that allow browsers to load, fetch and/or render pages faster. Some rules (such as using a content delivery network) would apply to large or enterprize sites but the majority of the hints can be used on any web page down to the smallest home page.
The book is well organized and easy to use. The font and page size are good for reading while sitting at a computer. The reference section which gives links to examples for each tip in the book is outstanding. It is broken down by chapter, then by tip within chapters.
The presentation is form the point of view of performance so there was material on how the browser works internally as well as explanations of external browser behavior.
Overall, this is a very nice guide of web site performance ideas.
Quick Read!, September 29 2007
Rating:
Submitted by Anonymous Reader [Respond | View]
I really enjoyed reading High Performance Web Sites.
After beginning with the performance golden rule and a brief introduction http the book devotes a chapter to each of the fourteen optimization rules that the author has developed while working at Yahoo!. The rules are presented in order of importance. The final chapter analyzes some high profile web sites to see how they stack up.
This book taught me a lot about how to optimize the loading of the web sites I write. Books like this are ones that I devour quickly and then want to share with others so they can befit. The small size of this book goes hand in hand with this desire. Since it is such a quick read coworkers are more likely to be willing to read it and less likely to put it off.
The explanations of each rule give you a clear understanding of the "whys" and not just the "hows". Most of the rules are illustrated with examples hosted on the authors web site (http://stevesouders.com/hpws/). You'll want to have had some experience developing web sites to gain the most from this book.
If you are in need of speeding up a web page, but don't know where to start I'd recommend this book. It is filled with practical first-hand knowledge and insight. Who knows, you may want to loan it out to a friend or two when you are finished. I know I do.
Media reviews
"Steve Souders has done a fantastic job of distilling a massive, semi-arcane art down to a set of concise, actionable, pragmatic engineering steps that will change the world of web performance."
-- Eric Lawrence, Developer of the Fiddler Web Debugger, Microsoft Corporation
"The book is a quick read compared to most technical books, and not just due to its relatively small size (168 pages), but also the writing style. Admittedly, this may be partly the result of O'Reilly's in-house and perhaps outsource editors — oftentimes the unsung heroes of publishing enterprises. This book is also valuable in that it offers the candid perspective of a Web performance expert, who never loses sight of the importance of the end-user experience...The author's core ideas are clearly explained; the performance improvements are demonstrated; the book's production is excellent. High Performance Web Sites is highly recommended to all Web developers seriously interested in improving their site visitors' experiences."
-- Michael J. Ross, Web Developer, Slashdot.org
"If everyone would implement just 20% of Steve's guidelines, the Web would be a dramatically better place. Between this book and Steve's YSlow extension, there's really no excuse for having a sluggish web site anymore."
-- Joe Hewitt, Developer of Firebug debugger and Mozilla's DOM Inspector
"As the stress and performance test lead for Zillow.com, I have been talking to all of the developers and operations folks to get them on board with the rules Steve outlined in this book, and they all ask how they can get a hold of this book. I think this should be a mandatory read for all new UE developers and performance engineers here."
-- Nate Moch, www.zillow.com
"High Performance Web Sites is an essential guide for every web developer. Steve offers straightforward, useful advice for making virtually any site noticeably faster."
-- Tony Chor, Group Program Manager, Internet Explorer team, Microsoft Corporation
"High Performance Web Sites is one of those books that will get read by more people than buy it because it is both a fast read and organized into clearly differentiated subjects. This makes it easy to pick up for a moment or pass along to team members with different specialties. Each of these "14 Steps to Faster-Loading Web Sites" is itself divided into related tips with practical pointers. The fact that the book is full of these pointers is not the only value I extracted. We also get something a bit more subtle. The fact that the author is a performance expert at one of the mega-companies that define the Web for most of us lends authority to the book. It is easy to have confidence that his practical experience will have immediate lessons for teams with the same problems, if on a smaller scale."
-- Brett Merkey, Amazon.com
"After a full read, this book is now on my shelf within easy reach so that I can refer to the invaluable tips and code samples. I highly recommend that any serious web developer add this book to their bookshelf!"
-- fiveforefun, Amazon.com
"This book is an excellent guide for web developers looking to write optimized HTML...well organized and easy to use. "
-- J. Druin, Amazon.com
"High Performance Web Sites is an empirical guide to making web pages render faster in the contemporary (October 2007) internet software environment. There is an abundance of case descriptions and explanations of how the protocols and actual software work. The writing reflects Mr. Souder's mastery of the software environments."
-- Lee McKusick, Peninsula Linux Users' Group
"I have never seen all of the material written down in one place...The book covers many niches of knowledge, 14 in total. There is a lot of good information in the book...If you do web front end work all day buy the book. There are going to be several "Ah ha!" moments while reading it. Having a copy of the book will come in handy when you have to explain all of your new found tricks to your co-workers (the book though is quite slim, so beating them over the head with it will be futile)."
-- Brian Aker, Brian "Krow" Aker's Idle Thoughts
"At only 168 pages, the time investment here is pretty light. But the return on investment for that time spent will stay with you forever as you crank out those applications. I definitely recommend this book to all my Web developer friends."
-- Thomas "Duffbert" Duff, Developer Tips
"I recommend this book for everybody who writes web pages even for personal use. You will be surprised how big amount of knowledge you can get from 168 pages."
-- Grzegorz Duda, Polish Java User Group
"I found High Performance Web Sites to be very enlightening. Because the author is a performance expert at a large scale company that has to be efficient, makes it all the more beneficial. Each of the 14 techniques is explained in easy to understand terms and they are really basic techniques that any website can benefit from. High Performance Web Sites is an excellent guide for web developers who are looking to write optimized HTML. It is a useful book for every web developer whether you are running a small or large-scale site. I highly recommend this book for anyone involved in web development."
-- T. Michael Testi, Blogcritics Magazine
"I was reading the book, High Performance Web Sites, authored by Steve Souders and realized a lot about the problems happening in my website right now. The book by itself is quite technical. If you haven’t been touching your code for awhile or do hard coding, it can be overwhelming. However, through it, I discovered two great tools that I am now using to assess and improve my website...[The book's] online compliment includes a blog and even a discussion board for each of the 14 rules (http://developer. yahoo.com/performance/rules.html) that take the learning process to a very productive level. It has a lot of examples where you can gain ideas on how to shape up your website further. Even non-technical people can benefit from the lessons it shares. In the end, what you want to see are better grades appearing in YSlow after implementing the suggested changes it gave earlier."
-- Janette Toral, Digital Filipino
"All in all, the book is very useful and essential to improve the performance of your web site from the frond-end perspective. The rules in this book, if applied will give you a significant performance boost."
-- AJ, Desicritics.org
"If your job is to deliver great websites, this book might just change the way you approach that next build. Even if it all sounds far too technical for right-brained creative types, you should definitely buy this book—even if it’s for the network manager in your life."
-- Matthew Pennell, Digital Web Magazine
"High Performance Web Sites would make a good investment for folks who want to get serious about weeding out the chaff to make their pages lean and mean, without removing the pizazz from their artistic creation."
-- Iris Yoffa, eJournal of the Tuscon Computer Society
