Nicholas C. Zakas: Enough with the JavaScript Already!

Code & Creativity

One of the biggest performance issues facing websites today is the sheer amount of JavaScript needed to power the page. The demand for more interactive and responsive applications has driven JavaScript usage through the roof, and it’s common for large sites to end up with more than 1 MB of JavaScript per page even after minification. But do we really need that much JavaScript? Putting several large websites under the microscope, Nicholas will work his magic and show just how little of that JavaScript is actually necessary. He’ll also discuss JavaScript library design and how some flawed patterns contribute to code bloat and unnecessary memory usage, ultimately wrestling with the dilemma: is it better to write the component yourself rather than using an off-the-shelf one?