# BenefitsCal's Performance Problems Compared with getcalfresh.org

DevFeed: [BenefitsCal's Performance Problems Compared with getcalfresh.org](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/reckoning-part-2-object-lesson-26545.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://infrequently.org/2024/08/object-lesson/>)

Author: Alex Russell

Published: 2024-08-13T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Alex Russell](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/alex-russell.md>)

Topics: [Web Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-development.md>), [Core Web Vitals](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/core-web-vitals.md>), [JavaScript](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/javascript.md>), [Latency](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/latency.md>), [Chromium](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/chromium.md>), [Compression](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/compression.md>), [Caching](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/caching.md>), [configuration](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/configuration.md>)

Tags: [caching](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/caching.md>), [compression](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/compression.md>), [configuration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/configuration.md>), [core-web-vitals](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/core-web-vitals.md>), [javascript](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/javascript.md>), [latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/latency.md>), [performance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/performance.md>), [web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web.md>), [webdev](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/webdev.md>)

## AI overview

The article compares California's BenefitsCal public benefits portal with Code for America's getcalfresh.org. It argues that BenefitsCal delivers a substantially slower experience, with excessive JavaScript, multiple loading screens, and configuration problems, while getcalfresh.org uses a simpler HTML-first architecture and becomes interactive sooner.

## Source excerpt

Other posts in the series: Reckoning: Part 1 -- The Landscape Reckoning: Part 3 -- Caprock Reckoning: Part 4 -- The Way Out Contents The Golden Wait The Truth Is In The Trace Zip It Near Peers Blimey JavaScript Masshattery Maryland Enters The Chat Chattanooga Chug Chug SNAP? In Jersey? Fuhgeddaboudit Hoosier Hospitality Deep Breaths The Golden Wait BenefitsCal is the state of California's recently developed portal for families that need to access SNAP benefits (née "food stamps"):1 BenefitsCal loading on a low-end device over a 9Mbps link with 170ms RTT latency via WebPageTest.org Code for America's getcalfresh.org performs substantially the same function, providing a cleaner, faster, and easier-to-use alternative to California county and state benefits applications systems: getcalfresh.org loading under the same conditions The like-for-like, same-state comparison getcalfresh.org provides is unique. Few public sector services in the US have competing interfaces, and only Code for America was motivated to build one for SNAP applications. getcalfresh.org finishes in 1/3 the time, becoming interactive not long after the BenefitsCal loading screen appears. WebPageTest.org timelines document a painful progression. Users can begin to interact with getcalfresh.org before the first (of three) BenefitsCal loading screens finish (scroll right to advance): & & Google's Core Web Vitals data backs up test bench assessments. Real-world users are having a challenging time accessing the site: BenefitsCal is a poor experience on real phones. But wait! There's more. It's even worse than it looks. The multi-loading-screen structure of BenefitsCal fakes out Chrome's heuristic for when to record Largest Contentful Paint. On low-end devices, BenefitsCal appears to almost load at the 22 second mark, only to put up a second loading screen shortly after. Because this takes so long, Chromium's heuristics for Largest Contentful Paint are thrown off, incorrectly reporting the end of the first loa