optimizing-performance

name	optimizing-performance
description	Analyzes and optimizes application performance across frontend, backend, and database layers. Use when diagnosing slowness, improving load times, optimizing queries, reducing bundle size, or when asked about performance issues.

Optimizing Performance

When to Load

• Trigger: Diagnosing slowness, profiling, caching strategies, reducing load times, bundle size optimization
• Skip: Correctness-focused work where performance is not a concern

Performance Optimization Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

Performance Optimization Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Measure baseline performance
- [ ] Step 2: Identify bottlenecks
- [ ] Step 3: Apply targeted optimizations
- [ ] Step 4: Measure again and compare
- [ ] Step 5: Repeat if targets not met

Critical Rule: Never optimize without data. Always profile before and after changes.

Step 1: Measure Baseline

Profiling Commands

# Node.js profiling
node --prof app.js
node --prof-process isolate*.log > profile.txt

# Python profiling
python -m cProfile -o profile.stats app.py
python -m pstats profile.stats

# Web performance
lighthouse https://example.com --output=json

Step 2: Identify Bottlenecks

Common Bottleneck Categories

Category	Symptoms	Tools
CPU	High CPU usage, slow computation	Profiler, flame graphs
Memory	High RAM, GC pauses, OOM	Heap snapshots, memory profiler