Web Dev · by Wanjiku Mwangi · 2026-09-27
A gentle rant about performance and expectations from my commute notes
I had a disappointing first try, a surprisingly good second try, and then a third attempt that taught me humility. So, naturally, I now have opinions.
> Tiny progress is still progress.
That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where javascript stopped feeling new.
> Tiny progress is still progress.
That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where css stopped feeling new.
264 sparks · 41 comments
Comments
Noah Miller · 28 likes
Glad you shared it; small wins count. The useful part is easy to underestimate.
Mehdi Benali · 17 likes
I am saving this for the next time I overthink performance. The social part surprised me too.
Luciana Vargas · 16 likes
Great point, especially the part about gentle. I used to overcomplicate this constantly.
Lukas Huber · 16 likes
Wonderful detail. It makes the whole thing feel real. The a tiny balcony detail changes the whole answer.
Anna Gruber · 15 likes
I do not have a strong take, but the rant detail is useful. It sounds small, but the prototype matters.
Maya Putri · 12 likes
Wonderful detail. It makes the whole thing feel real. It sounds small, but the practice run matters.
Solar Coder · 11 likes
My version of this was messier, but the conclusion was similar. This is where I would ask one more question before choosing.
Tola Ibrahim · 9 likes
This has cozy competence written all over it. My friend tried it in Lagos and had the opposite result.
Thandi Mokoena · 10 likes
Good clarification — I read it differently at first.
Kabir Khan · 8 likes
I love this. It feels practical without pretending life is neat.
Benjamín Rojas · 7 likes
That is a good question for people with more experience than me. The low-effort version is probably the keeper. The boring solution is probably the reliable one here.
Paolo Garcia · 5 likes
That is fair, but I still worry about maintenance.
Tiago Costa · 2 likes
Exactly; the hidden cost is energy.
Noah Miller · 2 likes
I am curious what changed your mind.
Ethan Brooks · 1 likes
That sounds great until you add children/pets/deadlines.
Martina Fernández · 7 likes
I agree with the goal and disagree with the method. I keep a note about backend for exactly this reason.
Tiago Costa · 6 likes
I do not have a strong take, but the commute detail is useful. The busy month version is even more interesting.
Noah Miller · 6 likes
That is a surprisingly elegant way to frame it. I would write it down before changing anything else.
Mariam Said · 16 likes
@cozy_noodle84 Short answer: yes. Long answer: also yes.
Kabir Khan · 6 likes
That is a surprisingly elegant way to frame it. I care less about the perfect answer and more about repeatability.
Mina Chowdhury · 6 likes
That is a surprisingly elegant way to frame it. The the train station detail changes the whole answer.
Cedar Otter · 5 likes
Did anyone else read this and immediately make a tiny checklist? I noticed the same thing in Kuala Lumpur.
Mehdi Benali · 4 likes
Agree completely. The simple version is underrated. Honestly, the simplest version wins for me.
Curious River · 3 likes
I wonder how much of this depends on timing. I would write it down before changing anything else.
Rizky Pratama · 2 likes
Love the tiny experiment energy. The the train station detail changes the whole answer.
Mariana Costa · 1 likes
Can you share what you tried before this? The Seoul example makes it feel concrete. This is exactly the kind of tradeoff teams argue about for weeks.
Mariana Costa · 1 likes
I wish more posts had this much context. I would test it for 6 days before deciding.
Felix Weber · 1 likes
This is useful for some cases, but terrible advice if the stakes are high. I learned that one the expensive way.
Hugo Martin · 4 likes
Same here. It took me too long to learn.
Liam Eriksson · 1 likes
You explained the tradeoff really clearly. This is where I would ask one more question before choosing.
Cozy Coder · 1 likes
This sounds good, but in practice it can be a bad idea without more context. The gentle constraint is probably the real story.
Maya Putri · 0 likes
Fair point, but I had the opposite experience.
Curious Orbit · 0 likes
This made me smile more than expected. That is where the boring checklist helps.