Top 5 Tips for Improving Visualforce Pages

#1 – Reduce or eliminate view state  

View State is not your friend when it comes to page performance, so if you do not need it (as in your page does need to persist data between page requests), then do not use it at all. This is especially true for pages that will run on the Salesforce1 mobile platform!!!

How do you not use it all?

Do not include the <apex:form> tag unless you absolutely have to. This tag should only be used when you are accepting input from the user, so if you are only displaying data to the user, you should not have a form tag.

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And, even if you are accepting input, it is likely that not all the data on your page needs to be submitted through a POST request. For example, you could have a page that lists some account data, but only allows the user to change one particular field. In cases such as these, you could use the Transient keyword in the Controller class to make all the data fields (and especially collections) that are not being changed read-only. This means they will not be stored in the view state and your page will load faster.

You should also consider using JavaScript Remoting to avoid View State state by invoking the Apex Controller or Extension from JavaScript instead. This puts more load on the front-end and typically results in more code, but for certain pages that demand fast performance (especially those on the Salesforce1 mobile platform), this may be a necessary tradeoff to consider. But, if you do decide to go this route, make sure you use very efficient JavaScript code, so you do not violate Tip #5.

#2 – Evaluate SOQL for Efficiency

There are several ways you can write better SOQL code. For starters, ALWAYS make sure you place SOQL queries outside of loops. This should be done no matter what. It will not only make your page perform better, but will help avoid limit errors and should be standard practice. This also applies to DML.

Beyond that essential tip, you should also consider:

• Only return fields that you are using on the page
• Use WHERE clauses as much as possible to restrict the number of records returned
• Use indexed fields in your WHERE clause as it will make the query optimizer work better. Default indexed fields are Id, Name, Owner, LastModifiedDate, and any foreign key or ExternalID fields.
• Use the LIMIT keyword when possible
• Use aggregation functions such as COUNT()
• Use the WITH SHARING keyword in your controllers since the sharing architecture is used by the Query Optimizer and you will only retrieve the records that the users has access to
• Additional suggestions (per reader JSON Hammerle) are to:
  • Use native (more selective indices) when possible
  • Hash your composite key (if you have one) into the native name field and use this hash in your WHERE clause This is comparable to a skinny table but you don’t have to work with support – and it can be delivered in a managed package.
  • Order your WHERE clause from most selective to least

#3 – Reduce use of Action tags

This kind of goes with tip #1, but since it is so important, I wanted to make it a separate point. Action tags such as <apex:ActionPoller> and <apex:ActionFunction> seem great on the surface since they are VERY easy to use, but they are memory hogs, so limit your use of them and consider alternatives.

Rather than using the ActionPoller tag, you should consider using the Streaming API. It means more code for you, but it results in no view state (remember tip #1). If you do not like the Streaming API, then consider using traditional polling using a Meta tag with a refresh and a window.location.reload.

Rather than using the ActionFunction, ActionSupport, ActionRegion tags, use Visualforce Remoting which uses no view state. Like I said earlier, it results in more code and complexity for you, but for certain pages this may be necessary. Again though, make sure you incorporate efficient JavaScript. Do NOT just copy and paste the first JavaScript snippet you find by doing a Google search.

#4 – Take Advantage of StandardSetControllers when dealing with lists of data

StandardSetControllers, which are used to create list controllers are your friends and you should use them whenever possible. The StandardSetControllers are optimized to work with large data sets of up to 10,000 records and include pagination features (which you should be using) automatically. There is no need for you to do this yourself.

When you do use them, instantiate them using a list of sObjects instead of from a query locator, as this is a more efficient way.

#5 – Incorporate Best Practices with all JavaScript, CSS and Images

No Visualforce page will perform well if it includes poorly used or inefficient HTML technologies. Make sure you incorporate best practices when including things such as Javascript, CSS and images. Things such as this:

• Remember less is more and smaller is better.
• Files should be minified and use Static Resources
• Avoid using global variables
• Place Javascript at the bottom of the page when possible and use the <script> tag and not <apex:includeScript>
• Use browser caching when you can
• Avoid use of iframes

There are tons of documents out there about best practices. Two of my favorites are:

https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/best-practices/rules_intro

http://developer.nokia.com/community/wiki/JavaScript_Performance_Best_Practices