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Remove all comments

takes for the script to run. The key factor in decreasing download time is the number of bytes that a

script contains.

The key number to remember is 1160, which is the number of bytes that fit into a single TCP-IP packet.

It’s best to try to keep each JavaScript file to 1160 bytes or less for optimal download time.

Every character in a JavaScript file is a byte. Thus, every extra character (whether it be a variable name,

function name, or comment) counts against the download speed. Before deploying any JavaScript code,

the download time should be optimized as much as possible. Here are a handful of ways that you can

decrease the overall number of bytes in a script.

Remove all comments

This should be a no-brainer, but many developers forget this because, once again, compilers have tradi-

tionally handled this.

Any comments in a script should be removed prior to deployment. Comments are important while you

are developing so that all team members can understand the source code. However, when it comes time

for deployment, those comments are slowing down your JavaScript code dramatically.

Removing comments is the easiest way to cut down the number of bytes in a JavaScript file. Even if

you don’t follow any of the other suggestions I give, this alone can provide dramatic decreases in overall

file size.

Remove tabs and spaces

Most good developers indent their code regularly in order to increase readability. This is good practice,

but the browser doesn’t need all those extra tabs and spaces; they must go. And don’t forget about the

spaces between function arguments, assignments, and comparisons: say goodbye to those as well.

Consider the following two lines:

function doSomething ( arg1, arg2, arg3 ) { alert(arg1 + arg2 + arg3); }

function doSomething(arg1,arg2,arg3){alert(arg1+arg2+arg3);}

To a JavaScript interpreter, these two lines are exactly identical, although the first line contains 12 more

bytes than the second. Removing the extra tabs and spaces between arguments, parentheses, and other

language delimiters helps to decrease the overall file size and, in turn, decreases the download time.

Using semicolons at the end of each line helps to preserve the syntactical meaning

of your code when extra tabs and spaces are removed.

It may be legally necessary to leave in a copyright notice or other such comment in

your file for deployment. If this is the case, ensure that all other comments are

removed and the legal comments are as short as possible.

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