Deep dives·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
p95 latency explained for QA engineers
What p95 actually means, why averages hide the bugs, and how to read a latency distribution as a tester.
performance-testinglatencymetrics
Opinions·13 June 2026 · 7 min read
Why average response time lies
The average response time is the metric most likely to make a slow system look fine. Here is what to watch instead.
performance-testingmetricsopinion
Deep dives·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
Load testing is not the same as performance testing
Load testing is one type of performance test, not the whole thing. A single user can have a performance bug. Match the test (load/stress/spike/soak) to the risk.
performance-testingload-testingconcepts
Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
The performance smoke test I'd run before release
Not a full load test — a fast, fixed, repeatable check on a few critical endpoints, compared to baseline, that catches gross regressions before sign-off.
performance-testingsmoke-testreleasechecklist
Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
How to read a k6 result without guessing
Which k6 metrics matter and which mislead: check the error rate first, read p95/p99 not the average, confirm the load profile, and compare to a baseline.
performance-testingk6metricstutorial
Field notes·13 June 2026 · 7 min read
Performance bugs that look like functional bugs
Dead buttons, random logouts, missing data — often timing problems in disguise. The tell is intermittent and worse under load; check latency before debugging logic.
performance-testingbugsdebuggingfield-note
Deep dives·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
How to set realistic performance thresholds
Derive thresholds from user expectation, today's baseline, and business impact — set on p95/p99 with an error-rate gate, tiered by criticality — not a made-up 'under 2s'.
performance-testingthresholdsslostrategy
Opinions·4 November 2025 · 8 min read
Load tests in CI: the honest version
The pitch: 'run load tests on every PR.' The reality: you'll have flaky thresholds in three days and disabled tests in two weeks. Here's the four-tier strategy that actually survives.
performance-testingci-cdk6opinion
Comparisons·14 October 2025 · 9 min read
k6 vs JMeter vs Gatling in 2026: what I'd pick for a modern stack
Three load-testing tools with three radically different ergonomics. JMeter has the 2004 XML/GUI legacy. Gatling stakes everything on Scala. k6 is the JavaScript-first newcomer. Here's the pick.
performance-testingk6jmetergatling