A 14kb page can load much faster than a 15kb page (2022)

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Real‑world impact of page bloat

  • Several comments describe painful experiences on slow or constrained links (EV chargers controlled via heavy web apps, rural US, spotty mobile, shared/torrented home connections).
  • Even in “rich” markets, many users routinely see high latency and variable bandwidth, so extra round‑trips and megabytes of assets are very noticeable.
  • Some argue that if you sell only to high‑bandwidth customers you can ignore this; others counter that this ignores large parts of the real user base.

TCP slow start, TLS, and modern protocols

  • The article’s 14kb rule is based on TCP slow start and initial congestion window, especially over high‑latency links (e.g., geostationary satellite).
  • Multiple replies note that TLS 1.3 reduces handshakes to 1 RTT (0‑RTT with resumption), so the article’s extra‑RTT math is dated; QUIC/HTTP‑3 also still use slow start but with different behavior.
  • There’s side discussion on shortening certificate chains, using ECC certs, and the dangers of omitting intermediates (breaks some non‑browser clients).
  • Some mention tuning initial congestion window on servers/CDNs, and why setting it absurdly high is bad for congestion and “shitty middleboxes”.

Examples and techniques for fast sites

  • McMaster‑Carr is repeatedly cited as a “blazing fast” site: global load balancing, CSS sprites, aggressive caching, optimistic prefetch on hover, possibly service workers.
  • Other shared practices: inline critical CSS/JS, minimizing HTTP requests, lazy‑loading below‑the‑fold scripts and third‑party widgets, facades for chat/analytics, static generation/SSR.

How much should teams care?

  • One camp: obsessing over tens of milliseconds is premature optimization; startups should prioritize product and revenue, and large orgs (in theory) have SREs to do this correctly.
  • Counter‑camp: today’s web is slow and bloated precisely because “we’ll fix it later” never happens; performance is a core feature (Figma cited as an example) and often correlates with simplicity.
  • Critiques of frameworks, SPAs, Docker/Kubernetes, and managerial demands for heavy tracking/ads as major sources of bloat.

Environmental arguments

  • Some see careful page sizing as part of a broader ethos against waste; others call it high‑effort, low‑impact compared to video streaming, crypto, AI, or even food choices (“hamburger vs page view” energy comparisons).
  • There’s disagreement over whether “small personal acts” like tiny websites meaningfully influence sustainability or are mostly virtue signaling.

Feasibility of the 14kb goal

  • Many note that 14kb total is only realistic for very small, mostly text pages; fonts, math libraries, images, and syntax highlighting blow past it quickly.
  • Projects like 10kb/512kb/250kb clubs are mentioned as more practical “budget” targets and sources of inspiration.
  • Several commenters think the article’s satellite example is increasingly obsolete (Starlink, modern networks), but still useful conceptually for showing how latency + slow start compound.