FASTER than FAST...

Last week I was given this assignment. As my first and definitely foremost assignment, I am assigned to write a review of a research article. This research article has given me numerous insights and as I read the research article I realized that how situations mentioned are current as well as related in my daily life as an avid internet user and a future web developer.

The research article is entitled How Fast Does a Website Need To Be? [click H.E.R.E to read] and it is written by Scott Barber from PerTestPlus, Inc. In this research article, Barber touched on the crucial elements and considerations when setting up a website. In his research article he enlightened us regarding considerations affecting performance expectations, collecting conformation about performance requirements and determining and documenting performance requirements as well as composite requirements.

First of all, regarding the considerations affecting performance expectation, Barber discussed that there are 3 focal factors. They are; user psychology, system and usage consideration. User psychology plays a vital role in judging performance. It produces feedbacks which can be very useful to web developers. System consideration encapsulates cost and feasibility in building a system. Hence, the stakeholders need to know how to balance the two in order to achieve equilibrium. Usage consideration on the other hand touches on how the website is used since this consideration will determine the performance tolerance of users.

• Personally, after reading about these considerations I realized that I can personally relate these situations to my day-to-day experience as an avid net user. I am truly in accord with Barber when he stated that, sometimes a user feels frustrated because of his or her previous experience with the Internet connection. Last year when I was in JB (urban area) using broadband internet was a breeze until I moved to Pontian that is nestled at the outskirt of JB. I get aggravated easily when dealing with downloading and uploading jobs. Not just that, paying bills via the Net is a hassle now! Well, this is the drawback that web developers, more often than not, tend to overlook. In my humble opinion, the developer should at least do something about it.
• Another point that I like to add up is, more often than not, a website is a failure because the developers fail to consider on the common system used by the demographics. This will contribute to the unpopularity of a website. Hence, as a future web-developer, I need to consider this situation as well in order to ensure the recognition of my website.
  

Next, Barber also mentioned that, when collecting information regarding performance requirements, there are three important areas involved and they are; user expectations, resource limitations and also stakeholder expectations. As a web developer, one must consider the system and the applications used to cater the needs of the users. Another consideration is, a developer must make sure that the new system that replacing the old one must appeal to the users mentality. The stakeholders must also be realistic when establishing a web-based operation because they need to consider the availability of the resources.

• What is it to me? What relation this information has with me? Apparently, as a future web-developer, these areas of considerations are indispensable. I need to ensure that, in order to create a good and manageable web portal, I need to consider the system used is applicable to all and sundry. I also need to ensure that my web-portal is juxtaposing with the resources that I will later have. This is to ensure that the web-portal is realistic and at the same time appeals to my users.

After Barber gathered the information on performance requirements, he needed to merge it into item that can be tested. Thus he categorized the performance into three items. They are; speed, scalability as well as stability. As for speed, web developers and stakeholders need to consider the activity types, speed requirements as well as the goals for each activity. Regarding scalability a.k.a capacity, Barber believed that, it is important for web developers and stakeholders to focus on the capacity requirements. This is to ensure the satisfaction of the web users. Stability touches on the overall system stability. It also highlights on the ability of the website to maintain its performance based on any given condition. It also deals with the environment in which the website needs to tolerate. The environment here refers to component, system, inputs, usage or even hostility.

• As a future web developer, I believe this information on performance requirements are imperative since I will be dealing with users' feedback regarding a website that I have developed. This is also to ensure that my website later on can withstand any glitches and circumstances that I might encounter in a future.

To conclude, based on the findings of this research it is proven that how fast is fast (of any applications) depends on individuals' judgment. Therefore, web developers and stakeholders must be alert with the needs, activities as well as the tolerance levels of users.