Dean Hume (@DeanoHume) is a software developer and author based in London, U.K. He is passionate about web performance, and he regularly writes on his blog - deanhume.com. He is the recent author of Fast ASP.NET Websites, a book aimed at improving the performance of ASP.NET applications.
For new developers that are starting to learn web development there is a lot to learn; HTML, CSS, and JavaScript just to mention a few! It’s important that new developers learn the importance of fast web pages and the positive effect that this can have on users. In this article I will list out my pick of 6 web performance books that every web developer should read. With Christmas just around the corner these books would make a great present for your web developers friends!
Whether you are a seasoned web developer or not, these books are packed with essential information that will help you build fast, scalable websites.
High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers
The Godfather of all web performance books, this book presents the 14 original rules for improving the performance of your websites.
Steve Souders uses the rules in High Performance Web Sites to explain how you can optimize the performance of the Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and images that you’ve built into your site.
High Performance Browser Networking: What every web developer should know about networking and web performance
This book takes it to the next level and dives deep into the key areas that every developer should know about browser networking. The chapters on mobile networks are extremely interesting and give insight into building faster mobile applications.
The author, Ilya Grigorik, demonstrates performance optimization best practices for TCP, UDP, and TLS protocols, and explains unique wireless and mobile network optimization requirements. Note: The book is also available to read online for free!
Responsible Responsive Design
Responsive web design is a big part of the web today. It has massively improved the way we deliver content to a wide array of devices, but with great power comes great responsibility!
This fantastic book draws from real-world examples and Scott Jehl shows you how to use the responsive web to serve the right content to your users and build in performance at the same time. If you’d like to learn more about topics such as planning for performance and the critical path, then this book is for you.
Designing for Performance
I recently purchased this book and have been thoroughly impressed with it. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you have to weigh up the design of a page against the impact it may have on performance, then I recommend reading this book.
Written by Lara Callender Hogan, this book helps you approach each project with page speed in mind and does a great job of teaching you the basics of web performance at the same time. It is currently available as an early-release, so grab it while it’s hot!
Web Performance Daybook Volume 2
Edited by the Performance Calendar’s very own Stoyan Stefanov, this book is a collection of articles that actually appeared on the Performance Calendar a few years ago.
Written by 32 web performance experts, this book covers a variety of web performance topics ranging from JavaScript to Mobile. This book is great for web developers looking to gain deeper insight about web performance.
A Pocket Guide: Web Performance
If you are looking to learn a lot from a little book, then this guide is for you. Andy Davies gets straight to business and shows you five simple steps to make your web pages load fast and stay silky smooth.
The best part about this book is that it is pocket sized and only comes in at around $4, so it would make a great Christmas present for someone!
If you have any books that you think should be on this list, add them to the comments below!