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Edge Computing Patterns for Modern Web Apps

Practical patterns for building applications that run at the edge, with real-world examples from Cloudflare Workers.

edge computingcloudflarearchitectureperformance

Edge computing changes how we think about web architecture. Here are patterns I’ve used in production.

Pattern 1: Static Shell + Dynamic Islands

Render the page shell statically at the CDN edge, then fill in dynamic content per-request. This gives you the performance of static sites with the flexibility of server rendering.

Pattern 2: Geo-Routed Logic

Use the edge to make routing decisions based on user location. Serve different content, apply different A/B tests, or route to different backends — all without a round trip to a central server.

Pattern 3: Edge-First Auth

Validate authentication tokens at the edge before the request reaches your application. This rejects unauthorized requests with minimal latency and reduces load on your origin.