Question 1

How do I use Browser Calories to check my website's performance budget?

Accepted Answer

After installing the extension, navigate to any webpage and click the Browser Calories icon to see a nutrition label-style report showing page weight, requests, and load time. This provides a quick visual assessment to see if the site meets performance goals during casual browsing.

Question 2

Browser Calories vs Google Lighthouse: which one should I choose?

Accepted Answer

Browser Calories is ideal for quick, visual performance checks during daily browsing, while Lighthouse offers comprehensive, automated audits with detailed suggestions. Use Calories for accessibility and stakeholder communication, and Lighthouse for in-depth, actionable insights in development workflows.

Question 3

Can I add custom metrics to Browser Calories?

Accepted Answer

No, Browser Calories uses a fixed set of metrics focused on page weight, requests, and load time. For customizable performance tracking, you would need to fork the project or explore other tools like performance monitoring APIs that allow metric expansion.

Question 4

How accurate is the page weight measurement in Browser Calories?

Accepted Answer

It calculates page weight based on network requests captured by the browser during page load, providing a reliable estimate for total resource size. However, it may not account for dynamically loaded content after initial render, so accuracy can vary for single-page applications.

Question 5

Is Browser Calories good for single-page applications (SPAs)?

Accepted Answer

It can measure initial load metrics effectively, but since it triggers on page load, it might not capture performance changes during client-side navigation without manual reloads. For dynamic SPAs, tools with real-time monitoring or API integrations might be more suitable.

Question 6

How can I contribute to Browser Calories on GitHub?

Accepted Answer

Clone the repository, install dependencies with npm install, compile scripts using npm start, and follow the testing instructions for your browser to load the extension locally. Then, you can submit pull requests for improvements, as detailed in the setup and testing sections of the README.

Browser Calories

What is Browser Calories?

Overview

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Pros & Cons

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Frequently Asked Questions