
High Performance Browser Networking
by Ilya Grigorik · first published 2013
95mentions
58recommended by
67HN commenters
2014–2026first – last mentioned
87% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Approachable, developer-focused explanation of how browser networking works: TCP, latency, HTTP/2, WebSockets. Suits front-end and web developers, even beginners, who want to optimize app speed. Free online.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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The Jazz Theory book - Mark Levine High Performance Browser Networking - edit: Ilya Grigorik Effortless Mastery - Kenny werner
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗If anyone wants to learn more about optimizing for HTTP/2, unwinding HTTP/1.1 hacks, and strategies to optimize for both versions at the same time, Ilya Grigorik's "High Performance Browser Networking" is an excellent resource: http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1230000000545/ch13.htm...
on “HTTP/2 Is Done” ↗I’d recommend High Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Grigorik[0]. It’s definitely less in-depth/comprehensive than some of the other suggestions here but I’ve found it to be a really clear, accessible exploration of networking concepts relevant…
on “Ask HN: Good books/courses to learn networking essentials for web developers?” ↗…They should know a little bit about TCP, SSL, HTTP, networking, monitoring, statistics, and everything related to frontend markup bloat, bandwidth, compression, etc. This is why Ilya Grigorik's book, High Performance Browser Networking, exists. It's a great reference to that end as well.
on “Software Developers Should Have Sysadmin Experience” ↗…good read. I laughed out loud when I read the notes column of their cell technology matrix which listed Mr Drummond and Gordan Gecko for 0G and 1G respectively. I can also highly recommend the book "High Performance Browser Networking" by Ilya Grigorik referenced by this post. Although it's almost 8 years old most of is still very relevant. Although it would be wonderful if he would update it to reflect changes in TLS and 5G. I also…
on “Observing my cellphone switch towers” ↗High Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Grigorik you mean. +1 for the recommendation. I always found it hard to learn about networking from the traditional textbooks and this answered a lot of the questions that I always wondered about.
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗Focused on systems and design for backend devs: 1. High Performance Browser Networking 2. Designing Data-Intensive Applications 3. Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Services 4. Effective Python: 90 Specific Ways to Write Better Python I wrote in a bit more detail…
on “Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?” ↗A little more than just programming, but just finished Ilya Grigorik's new book, "High Performance Browser Networking" (available free online). I learned a lot about Javascript/HTML loading and execution that I had never even thought about.
on “Ask HN: What's the best programming book you've read recently?” ↗…"mindblowing" as Eloquent Javascript, but really good for diving deep in a low-level land (yet made very accessible in this book) that is probably overlooked by most of us when optimizing a web app for speed : High-Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Grigorik http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1230000000545/index.ht...
on “Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?” ↗High Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Grigorik is pretty solid, and free online. http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1230000000545
on “Why is Netflix Buffering? Dispelling the Congestion Myth” ↗It's not quite as expansive as HTTP: The Definitive Guide, but I highly recommend High Performance Browser Networking* by Ilya Grigorik. Very well-written, with good coverage of not only HTTP, but only WebSockets and WebRTC. I highly recommend it. *High Performance Browser Networking: What every web developer should…
on “Ask HN: Any recent alternative to “”http the definitive guide“” ↗I really recommend "High Performance Browser Networking" book by Ilya Grigorik, it digs deep into the topic of browser performance: http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1230000000545/index.ht...
on “A Guide to Fast Page Loads” ↗If any front-end developers do want to learn more about Internet/browser networking, I'd highly recommend the book High Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Gregorik. It looks like there's even a free version now available online: http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1230000000545
on “We only hire the trendiest” ↗…choices made to build modern day internet Unwritten Laws of Engineering: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13122143-unwritten-laws-... is an old and timeless way detailing what it means to engineer High Performance Browser Networking: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17985198-high-performanc... if you ever wanted to know what happens inside a browser The Computer and the Brain: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/358880.The_Computer_and_...…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗Database Internals - Alex Petrov How Linux Works - Brian Ward High Performance Browser Networking - Ilya Grigorik
on “Ask HN: What are some other books as fundamental as DDIA?” ↗