Performance Budgets Before Code 

Performance is easiest to achieve when it is a requirement rather than a rescue mission. Before we write code, we agree on budgets: page load targets, API latency ceilings, gas limits for contract calls and memory envelopes for mobile.

Budgets change design decisions — from choosing pagination strategies to deciding what belongs on-chain versus off-chain — and they are enforced in CI rather than by good intentions. When a pull request blows the budget, the build fails, not the launch.

A budget that is measured is a culture. A budget that is only written down is a wish.