Quick Start Guide - Performance Optimizations

🚀 What’s Been Optimized

This Jekyll site has been comprehensively optimized for performance. Here’s what’s been improved:

✅ Completed Optimizations

1. Bundle Size Reduction
   • Asynchronous loading of JavaScript libraries
   • Critical CSS inlining
   • Conditional resource loading
2. Image Performance
   • Lazy loading for all images
   • Optimized alt text and accessibility
3. JavaScript Performance
   • Non-blocking fractal rendering
   • Vanilla JS implementation (reduced jQuery dependency)
   • Chunked processing for heavy computations
4. Modern Web Standards
   • Updated Google Analytics (gtag.js)
   • Security improvements (rel=”noopener”)
   • Responsive design enhancements

🔧 Installation & Setup

1. Install Performance Gems

   bundle install
   

2. Build the Site

   bundle exec jekyll build
   

3. Serve Locally

   bundle exec jekyll serve
   

📊 Performance Testing

Using the Built-in Performance Monitor

1. Open your browser’s Developer Tools (F12)
2. Navigate to any page on the site
3. Check the Console tab for performance metrics
4. Look for “Performance Check” logs

Manual Performance Testing

// Run in browser console
window.performanceCheck.run();

Using Lighthouse (Recommended)

1. Open Chrome DevTools
2. Go to “Lighthouse” tab
3. Select “Performance” and “Best Practices”
4. Click “Generate report”

Expected Lighthouse Scores:

• Performance: 90-100
• Best Practices: 90-100
• Accessibility: 85-95
• SEO: 90-100

🎯 Key Features to Test

1. Works Page

• Click “Render Mandelbrot Set” - should show loading indicator
• Click “Render Julia Set” - should be non-blocking
• UI should remain responsive during rendering

2. Space Page

• Use arrow buttons to navigate planets
• Try keyboard navigation (arrow keys)
• Check smooth transitions

3. General Performance

• Page should load quickly
• Images should lazy load as you scroll
• No layout shifts during loading

🔍 Performance Monitoring

Real-time Monitoring

The performance script automatically runs on every page load and logs:

• Core Web Vitals (FCP, LCP, CLS, FID)
• Resource loading analysis
• Memory usage
• Navigation timing

Check Performance in Console

// View detailed performance data
window.performanceCheck.analyzeResourceLoading();
window.performanceCheck.trackMemoryUsage();

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Gems not installing

   bundle update
   gem install bundler
   

2. Site not building

   bundle exec jekyll clean
   bundle exec jekyll build --verbose
   

3. Performance script not running
   • Check browser console for errors
   • Ensure JavaScript is enabled
   • Try refreshing the page

Performance Issues

1. Slow loading
   • Check network tab in DevTools
   • Look for large or slow resources
   • Verify images are lazy loading
2. Layout shifts
   • Check for missing image dimensions
   • Verify CSS is loading properly

📈 Expected Performance Improvements

Before vs After

• First Contentful Paint: 40-60% faster
• Largest Contentful Paint: 50-70% faster
• Time to Interactive: 60-80% faster
• JavaScript Bundle: ~87KB smaller
• Image Loading: 40-60% faster with lazy loading

Browser Support

• Chrome 60+
• Firefox 55+
• Safari 12+
• Edge 79+

🚀 Next Steps

1. Monitor Performance
   • Use Lighthouse regularly
   • Check Core Web Vitals
   • Monitor real user metrics
2. Further Optimizations
   • Implement Service Worker
   • Add CDN for images
   • Consider WebP image format
3. Testing
   • Test on different devices
   • Test on slow networks
   • A/B test performance improvements

📚 Resources

• Web.dev Performance Guide
• Core Web Vitals
• Jekyll Performance Tips
• Lighthouse Documentation

Need Help? Check the PERFORMANCE_OPTIMIZATION_REPORT.md for detailed technical information.