Kevin Farrugia
Hi, I’m Kevin Farrugia. I have a background as a front-end engineer specializing in web performance. I run a start-up providing web performance optimization and I use this website to blog about my learnings and share my expertise.
As a web performance consultant, I’ve led a diverse range of engagements—from mission-critical projects tackling urgent performance bottlenecks, to multi-year strategic partnerships helping teams build faster and more resilient web experiences.
In 2023, I authored Learn Performance, the official web performance course on web.dev.
I am an active contributor to open-source projects and the proud recipient of Google’s Open Source Peer Bonus.
I’m a former co-founder of two startups, both of which I’ve successfully sold.
I am available for speaking engagements for both public and private events. If you would be interested, please send me an email or find me on LinkedIn.
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Latest Updates
- Adding a CrUX Vis shortcut to Chrome's address barTue Apr 15 2025
The CrUX Vis tool is a great way to visualize the CrUX data. I created a shortcut to quickly access the tool from Chrome's address bar.
- Contributing to the Web Almanac 2024 Performance chapterMon Nov 25 2024
This year I contributed to the HTTP Archive's Web Almanac as an data analyst on the Performance 2024 chapter.
- Improving Largest Contentful Paint on slower devicesSat Mar 09 2024
We improved Largest Contentful Paint by segmenting our users by device memory.
- Learn Performance course on web.devWed Nov 01 2023
I co-authored a course on web.dev covering the fundamentals of web performance.
- Setting up a Private WebPageTest instanceMon Jun 26 2023
How to setup a private WebPageTest server and agent on an Ubuntu VM
- First Important Paint - Developing a custom metricSat Jun 10 2023
Custom metrics allow you to extend the set of measures already available in the browser with your own measures. I explain the motivation behind First Important Paint and what I learned about developing a custom metric.
- Web Performance AuditWed Jun 07 2023
I was asked to perform a performance audit for an online casino. This article is a redacted version of the report I have delivered to the client detailing my findings and recommendations.
- Fetch Priority and optimizing LCPMon Jan 02 2023
Fetch Priority is used to indicate to the browser the relative priority of a resource. I take a deep dive into how you can improve your Largest Contentful Paint by using fetchpriority.
- The 2022 Web Almanac - JavaScript, Third Parties and Interop 2022Tue Sep 27 2022
I contributed to the latest edition of the Web Almanac, the annual publication curated by industry experts analyzing the current state of the web.
- Google IO Extended - MaltaWed Sep 07 2022
On June 21st I was lucky enough to speak at Google IO Extended - Malta about Interaction to Next Paint (INP).
- Interaction to Next PaintThu Jun 16 2022
In May 2022, Google added Time to First Byte (TTFB) and Interaction to Next Paint (INP) to their CrUX report. INP measures a website's responsiveness and might replace First Input Delay (FID) as a Core Web Vital in the future.
- Component composition in ReactWed Feb 23 2022
One of the most misunderstood design patterns in a React application is the render props pattern and component composition.
- The web isn't for content, it's for ads.Wed Feb 02 2022
When visiting a website, the goal of the website isn't for you to consume the content you came looking for, but to maximize the lifetime value of your visit.
- React Router and nested routesTue Feb 01 2022
What are nested routes, why are they meaningful, and how can you use nested routes in your React app?
- Should you optimize every re-render?Tue Dec 07 2021
In most cases, the time spent rendering each component is a few milliseconds. This has led to the argument that not all re-renders are bad; a statement I disagree with.
- Getting your HTTP Cache-Control headers rightSat Nov 27 2021
Getting your caching strategy right can make a huge difference to your users - both repeat and first time.
- Contributing to the HTTP Archive's 2021 Web Almanac - Resource HintsTue Nov 23 2021
The Web Almanac is an annual publication curated by industry experts analyzing the current state of the web.
- Creating a performance culture - Web Performance CalendarThu Dec 24 2020
A non-technical write-up about my experience creating and maintaining a performance culture at Tipico.
- Code-splitting is hardFri Nov 13 2020
A demo project to illustrate that code-splitting is not a pandora's box and help in answering frequently asked questions on the topic.
- Loading CSS - Performance CheatsheetFri Sep 25 2020
A comparison of a set of tests using different loading strategies for CSS assets.
- React Rendering OrderTue Jul 28 2020
An example and explanation of the order in which React renders components and sub-components.
- Inlining critical CSSFri Jul 24 2020
I have recently come across all sorts of implementations to inline critical CSS. Here I share my relatively simple approach.
- Learning the React reconciliation algorithm with performance measuresSun May 03 2020
I wanted to measure the summation of all CPU time following a prop change, to do that I had to thoroughly understand the React reconciliation algorithm.
- How I improved a WordPress website's start render time to under 1 secondSun Apr 26 2020
Over the course of three months, I improved a WordPress website's page load time from 5.52 to 1.40 seconds and brought it's start rendering time to under 1 second.
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Case Studies
- Industry-leading Sportsbook
Improving LCP and INP for an industry-leading sportsbook website in my role as a Web Performance Consultant.
- Malta Football Association
Leading the development of a new website for the Malta Football Association, focusing on real-time updates, performance and user experience.