Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


W3C Launches Web Performance Working Group

The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) last week announced a new Web Performance Working Group that aims to more accurately measure Web app performance times.

The group will be co-chaired by representatives from Google and Microsoft. The two companies have been working independently on the problem of measuring Web app performance. Both have found the typical JavaScript method of checking performance to be woefully inadequate. Now they are pooling their efforts under the W3C based on the W3C's Web Timing draft spec.

Google implemented the Web Timing spec into the WebKit rendering engine that powers its Chrome browser. The company announced in late July that performance metrics are now accessible by developers for the Google Chrome 6 browser.

Microsoft implemented the Web Timing spec in its third "platform preview" of Internet Explorer 9, which can be explored in its window.msPerformance demo test. The company described the integration of the Web Timing spec, as well as the problems associated with measuring Web app performance, in a late June blog post. 

The Web Performance Working Group initially will focus on creating a common API for measuring Web page loading and Web app performance. Currently, Google and Microsoft use vendor-specific prefixes for their implementations of the Web Timing spec.

"With two early implementations available, it shouldn't take long to finalize an interoperable API and remove the vendor prefixes," stated Jason Weber, lead program manager for IE performance and one of the co-chairs of the new working group, in a Thursday blog post. The other working group co-chair is Google's Arvind Jain.

The Web Performance Working Group is part of the W3C's Rich Web Client Activity. The group coordinates with external organizations such as the ECMA Technical Committee 39 (responsible for ECMAScript standardization) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (responsible for defining Web protocols).

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • abstract generative AI technology

    Apple and Google Announce AI Deal to Bring Gemini Models to Siri

    Apple and Google have embarked on a multiyear partnership that will put Google's Gemini models and cloud technology at the core of the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, a move that could help Apple accelerate long-promised upgrades to Siri while handing Google a high-profile distribution win on the iPhone.

  • Interface buttons of Generative AI tool

    No Foolproof Method Exists for Detecting AI-Generated Media, Report Finds

    A new research report from Microsoft has found that no single technology can reliably distinguish AI-generated content from authentic media, and that deepening reliance on any one method risks misleading the public.

  • glowing icons over a stack of books

    Project to Boost Literacy through Data-Guided Practice

    The University of Iowa's Iowa Reading Research Center (IRRC) and the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) have partnered with Foundations in Learning on literacy support for rural students in grades 3-5.

  • woman working on laptop, holding documents, sitting at desk indoors

    OpenAI Unveils ChatGPT for Teachers

    OpenAI has introduced a free version of ChatGPT for teachers, aimed at providing a secure workspace to adapt classroom materials, streamline prep, collaborate with peers, and more.