How slow is database access, really?

Many modern applications use relational databases. Performance optimization discussions often end with the statement “If you’re hitting a database, nothing else really matters”. Is that really so? Note: This post is written to provide a rough idea of the performance impact magnitudes involved in database access. There is no substitute for local measurements. To test […]

March 23, 2010 · Jouni Heikniemi · 3 Comments
Tags:  · Posted in: .NET, Misc. programming

ReaderWriterLockSlim performance

A while ago I blogged about the performance of various thread synchronization primitives. Due to the insufficient accuracy of my memory cells, I forgot ReaderWriterLockSlim out of the comparison. Let that be fixed here and now. The comparison method is still the same, and I have amended the previous post with the results of the […]

December 29, 2009 · Jouni Heikniemi · 2 Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: .NET

Performance overhead of thread synchronization

One of the main problems with multithreaded application development is handling the synchronization of data. The failure to do so can result in data corruption. On the other hand, over-synchronizing causes loss of performance. But how slow is synchronization, really? Edit: As discussed in the comments section, ReaderWriterLockSlim was accidentally forgotten out of the comparison. […]

December 17, 2009 · Jouni Heikniemi · 4 Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: .NET

Microsoft Ajax CDN distributes your JavaScript files

As the role of JavaScript on the web sites grows, the management of JavaScript files becomes more relevant. Content Distribution Networks aim to solve one part of the problem. Earlier on, Google and Yahoo have founded open content distribution networks, providing hosting for JavaScript files needed for web sites. The basic idea behind a CDN […]

October 10, 2009 · Jouni Heikniemi · 2 Comments
Tags: , , ,  · Posted in: .NET, Web

Whitepaper on Visual Studio 2008 Performance Profiling (in Finnish only)

Just a short note: I have published a white paper (unfortunately in Finnish only) about the Visual Studio 2008 performance profiler. The white paper is 29 pages long and covers the key concepts of profiling as well as guidance on using the Visual Studio’s profiler both in instrumentation and sampling modes. The article and the […]

July 29, 2009 · Jouni Heikniemi · No Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: .NET