However, some developers and organizations raise concerns about its performance and robustness, especially as applications grow.
It’s not uncommon for an OutSystems application to pass all tests during development, only to encounter issues later in production. Flows begin to slow down, users experience delays, and some processes may even time out. These problems often arise from inefficient implementations that go unnoticed during development.
The good news is that many of these issues can be avoided. By planning ahead and conducting performance testing before launching an application, teams can ensure a smoother experience in production. Performance should be a key consideration from the very beginning of the project — not something addressed only after problems arise.
Looking for ways to prevent these issues? Here are some best practices for optimizing performance in your OutSystems applications.
Designing a clean and efficient data model is essential for long-term performance and maintainability:
While aggregates are easier to use and handle many optimizations automatically, SQL queries can offer more control and performance benefits in some scenarios.
Always remember what works with 100 records may fail with 10,000. Think ahead and build for scale
When a synchronous process triggered by a user takes too long and causes timeouts, consider moving it to an asynchronous process. You can use timers or background processes like BPT (Business Process Technology).
Are your requests taking too long, and you can’t tell why at first glance? Use Service Center to troubleshoot. Check logs, error messages, and slow queries. Often, a single inefficient query can impact overall performance – the fix might be a small adjustment, like adding an index or filtering fewer records.
OutSystems is a powerful low-code platform that supports fast development without sacrificing performance, when used wisely. With the right practices, it can power high-performance, scalable and reliable applications.
To improve as a developer, make performance part of your mindset from the start. What works well today with a small dataset might struggle tomorrow with millions of records. Always ask yourself: “Will this still perform well as the system grows?”
By building with scalability and performance in mind from day one, you avoid costly rework later — and deliver better, faster apps that users love.
Marisa Serrano
Software Developer