A performance engineer works to optimize the performance of software and IT systems, including applications. They do this by finding ways to improve their scalability and efficiency and fixing any problems that may arise.
They work with software developers and IT professionals to create high-performing products that meet customers' expectations. They conduct testing to identify potential issues and provide advice on how to fix them.
The main responsibilities of a performance engineer are to identify any issues that could affect the software's performance, then develop guidelines to prevent them from happening in the future. They also test the software to ensure it meets the necessary specifications and make recommendations to developers on how they can fix the issues.
Performance engineering is a set of practices and techniques used to design, build, and implement systems that meet requirements for high-performance. It is a subset of testing that measures speed, response time, scalability, and stability under varying workloads.
A performance engineer's duties begin at the beginning of the development cycle, when they help flag any performance issues that may arise. They run diagnostic and performance tests on the software and IT system, then analyze the results to determine what needs to be done.
They focus on preventing things from going pear-shaped in production, since application performance can have a huge impact on an organization's bottom line. They advocate proactive performance management, which ensures that they're able to identify bottlenecks early and make them a priority so they don't end up in production when the organization is trying to meet budget and timelines.