FrontendHaltNetworking·Intermediate·Conceptual·1 min read
What is a request waterfall and why does it hurt?
Short interview answer
It's when requests that could run in parallel instead run in sequence because each depends on the previous one completing and rendering. Total latency becomes the sum of the requests rather than the slowest one, so a page with three 200ms requests takes 600ms instead of 200ms.
Key takeaway
Explain the underlying mental model clearly, then support it with a concrete example and its trade-offs.