Latency numbers every frontend developer should know – Vercel
Web page load times and responsiveness to user action in web apps is a primary driver of user satisfaction–and both are often dominated by network latency.
Latency itself is a function of the user’s connection to the internet (Wifi, LTE, 5G), how far away the server is that the user is connecting to, and the quality of the network in between. While the latency numbers may seem low by themselves, they compound quickly. For example, a network waterfall of depth 3 on a 300ms link leads to a total latency of 900ms. Technologies like React Server Components can move network waterfalls to the server where the same request pattern might be 100 times as fast.
Source: Latency numbers every frontend developer should know – Vercel
Little rules of thumb and intuitions are things experts acquire, sometimes unknowingly. Here are some about latency as relevant to front end engineers from Malte Ubl, building on Jonas Bonér’s Latency Numbers Every Programmer Should Know
