3 ms·

Don’t know if it’s related to the article, but the chats ui performance becomes absolutely horrendous in long chats. Typing the chat box is slow, rendering lag

Don’t know if it’s related to the article, but the chats ui performance becomes absolutely horrendous in long chats. Typing the chat box is slow, rendering lags and sometimes gets stuck altogether. I have a research chat that I have to think twice before messaging because the performance is so bad. Running on iPhone 16 safari, and MacBook Pro m3 chrome.

stacktraceyo 6mo ago
Same. It’s wild how bad it can get with just like a normal longer running conversation
moffkalast 6mo ago
Yeah just had this earlier today, I had to write my response in vscode and paste it in, there were literal seconds of lag for typing each character. Typical bloated React.
- scq 6mo ago
  Just because a web application uses React and is slow, it does not follow that it is slow because of React. It's perfectly possible to write fast or slow web applications in React, same as any other framework. Linear is one of the snappiest web applications I've ever used, and it is written in React.
  - brigandish 6mo ago
    Does not, in the seeming absence of other snappy examples and the overwhelming evidence of many, many slow React apps, the exception prove the rule?
    - scq 6mo ago
      There are plenty of snappy examples. Off the top of my head: Discord, Netflix, Signal Desktop, WhatsApp Web.
      - TeMPOraL 6mo ago
        Discord, maybe. But Netflix and WhatsApp Web? Those are bloated cows, just less broken than average.
      - genthree 6mo ago
        Those are all really poorly-performing.
  - moffkalast 6mo ago
    Sure it's possible but those are a handful of exceptions against the norm, when the general approach so easily guides you towards bloat upon bloat that you have to be an expert to actively avoid going down that route.
DenisM 6mo ago
In the good old days Netflix had "Dynamic HTML" code that would take a DOM element which scrolled out of view port and move it to the position where it was about to be scrolled in from the other end. Hence he number of DOM elements stayed constant no matter how far you scroll and the only thing that grows is the Y coordinate. They did it because a lot of devices running Netflix (TVs, DVD players, etc) were underpowered and Netflix was not keen on writing separate applications. They did, however, invest into a browser engine that would have HW acceleration not just for video playback but also for moving DOM elements. Basically, sprites. The lost art of writing efficient code...
- zdragnar 6mo ago
  > Hence he number of DOM elements stayed constant no matter how far you scroll and the only thing that grows is the Y coordinate. This is generally called virtual scrolling, and it is not only an option in many common table libraries, but there are plenty of standalone implementations and other libraries (lists and things) that offer it. The technique certainly didn't originate with Netflix.
  - dotancohen 6mo ago
    And yet ChatGPT does not use it. GP was mentioning that a solution to the problem exists, not that Netflix specifically invented it. Your quip that the technique is not specific to Netflix bolsters the argument that OpenAI should code that in.
    - BoorishBears 6mo ago
      They didn't actually name the solution: the solution is virtualization. They described Netflix's implementation, but if someone actually wanted to follow up on this (even for their own personal interest), Dynamic HTML would not get you there, while virtualization would across all the places it's used: mobile, desktop, web, etc.
    - jasonfarnon 6mo ago
      I'm ignorant of the tech here. But I have noticed that ctrl-F search doesn't work for me on these longer chats. Which is what made me think they were doing something like virtual scrolling. I can't understand how the UI can get so slow if a bunch of the page is being swapped out.
bschwindHN 6mo ago
Almost certainly running some sort of O(n^2) algorithm on the chat text every key press. Or maybe just insane hierarchies of HTML. Either way, pretty wild that you can have billions of dollars at your disposal, your interface is almost purely text, and still manage to be a fuckup at displaying it without performance problems.
qingcharles 6mo ago
OpenAI sites are the only ones that do this to me. I have to keep a separate browser profile just for my OpenAI login with absolutely nothing installed on it or it'll end up being dogshit slow and unusable.
PunchyHamster 6mo ago
That's how eating your own dogshit works, or whatever was that saying
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

stacktraceyo 6mo ago

Same. It’s wild how bad it can get with just like a normal longer running conversation

moffkalast 6mo ago

Yeah just had this earlier today, I had to write my response in vscode and paste it in, there were literal seconds of lag for typing each character. Typical bloated React.

scq 6mo ago
Just because a web application uses React and is slow, it does not follow that it is slow because of React. It's perfectly possible to write fast or slow web applications in React, same as any other framework. Linear is one of the snappiest web applications I've ever used, and it is written in React.
- brigandish 6mo ago
  Does not, in the seeming absence of other snappy examples and the overwhelming evidence of many, many slow React apps, the exception prove the rule?
  - scq 6mo ago
    There are plenty of snappy examples. Off the top of my head: Discord, Netflix, Signal Desktop, WhatsApp Web.
    - TeMPOraL 6mo ago
      Discord, maybe. But Netflix and WhatsApp Web? Those are bloated cows, just less broken than average.
    - genthree 6mo ago
      Those are all really poorly-performing.
- moffkalast 6mo ago
  Sure it's possible but those are a handful of exceptions against the norm, when the general approach so easily guides you towards bloat upon bloat that you have to be an expert to actively avoid going down that route.

DenisM 6mo ago

In the good old days Netflix had "Dynamic HTML" code that would take a DOM element which scrolled out of view port and move it to the position where it was about to be scrolled in from the other end. Hence he number of DOM elements stayed constant no matter how far you scroll and the only thing that grows is the Y coordinate. They did it because a lot of devices running Netflix (TVs, DVD players, etc) were underpowered and Netflix was not keen on writing separate applications. They did, however, invest into a browser engine that would have HW acceleration not just for video playback but also for moving DOM elements. Basically, sprites. The lost art of writing efficient code...

zdragnar 6mo ago
> Hence he number of DOM elements stayed constant no matter how far you scroll and the only thing that grows is the Y coordinate. This is generally called virtual scrolling, and it is not only an option in many common table libraries, but there are plenty of standalone implementations and other libraries (lists and things) that offer it. The technique certainly didn't originate with Netflix.
- dotancohen 6mo ago
  And yet ChatGPT does not use it. GP was mentioning that a solution to the problem exists, not that Netflix specifically invented it. Your quip that the technique is not specific to Netflix bolsters the argument that OpenAI should code that in.
  - BoorishBears 6mo ago
    They didn't actually name the solution: the solution is virtualization. They described Netflix's implementation, but if someone actually wanted to follow up on this (even for their own personal interest), Dynamic HTML would not get you there, while virtualization would across all the places it's used: mobile, desktop, web, etc.
  - jasonfarnon 6mo ago
    I'm ignorant of the tech here. But I have noticed that ctrl-F search doesn't work for me on these longer chats. Which is what made me think they were doing something like virtual scrolling. I can't understand how the UI can get so slow if a bunch of the page is being swapped out.

bschwindHN 6mo ago

Almost certainly running some sort of O(n^2) algorithm on the chat text every key press. Or maybe just insane hierarchies of HTML. Either way, pretty wild that you can have billions of dollars at your disposal, your interface is almost purely text, and still manage to be a fuckup at displaying it without performance problems.

qingcharles 6mo ago

OpenAI sites are the only ones that do this to me. I have to keep a separate browser profile just for my OpenAI login with absolutely nothing installed on it or it'll end up being dogshit slow and unusable.

PunchyHamster 6mo ago

That's how eating your own dogshit works, or whatever was that saying

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]