Client side performance is something that a lot of us in the web world feel passionately about, and recently I’ve had the pleasure of working on some very exciting DNN enhancements in this area. I'll lead with a fun fact: number of CSS/JavaScript requests in DotNetNuke 6: twenty-two. Number in DotNetNuke 6.1: eight. But, before I give you all the details, let me set the “client side performance” stage.

Recently I wrote about how DotNetNuke 6.1 introduces exciting new ways for developers to manage CSS and JavaScript. The release represents a significant first step in optimizing the client side impact of the framework by focusing on reducing the number of requests using dynamic page-based resource combination.

This release represents a large shift in the strategy for delivering JS and CSS resources to the client. While this is undoubtedly a net-positive to both DNN developers and users, there is also a bit of a learning curve, an adjustment period, and a few strategic changes to make along the way to insanely great performance.