_EfficientGlideRecord_ is a client-side API class from which you can perform asynchronous client-side GlideRecord-style queries while **maximizing performance** (eliminating the negative performance impact of using the client-side GlideRecord object) and **without having to create a separate GlideAjax Script Include**!

Every senior ServiceNow developer knows that _client-side GlideRecord queries are slow and inefficient_, and that it's far preferable to use a **GlideAjax** call. However, GlideAjax can be a REAL pain to implement. I've got [an _entire article_](https://ajax.snc.guru/) about using GlideAjax from both a client and server perspective.
Even I have to look up my own article from time to time to remind myself of the correct patterns when I need to use it, and I groan every time I think about having to create **_yet another_ Script Include** just to handle this one little use-case in this unique application scope or something.

A couple days ago, I was whingeing on the [ServiceNow Developers Discord](https://discord.snc.guru/) about the poor performance (and inaccurate documentation) of the client-side GlideRecord API.
I was wishing there was something better that didn’t require me to make a whole separate Script Include just to query a single record from the database and get the value of a few fields on that record in my Client Script.

Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. Client-side GlideRecord is massively inefficient, far too slow, and returns way too much unnecessary data to be used commonly in production code. _GlideAjax is simply the best and most efficient method for looking up data from client-side scripts_.

### At least, _it was_… **_until now_**!

After searching for a better solution for another couple of hours, I finally decided:

So, I did. And now I’m sharing that solution with you!

This consists of only a few files: A client-callable Script Include that does the back-end work for us, and a Global UI Script that acts as the client-side GlideRecord alternative (which I very creatively named [EfficientGlideRecord](https://snprotips.com/blog/2022/10/19/efficientgliderecord-a-faster-more-efficient-client-side-gliderecord-free-tool#EfficientGlideRecord)). There is also a "portal" version of the same UI Script.

Aside from the fact that you'll specify only the fields you want to retrieve from the database for _maximum performance_ (see examples in the API documentation), this is otherwise a near-perfect drop-in replacement for the client-side `GlideRecord` class; meaning that in the vast majority of cases, you'll be able to take your existing code, change the word "`GlideRecord`" to "`EfficientGlideRecord`", call `.addField()` for each field you want to retrieve, and that's it - you're done!

You might be wondering: "_Okay, that's not too much work. I could do a code search for client-side code calling GlideRecord and get a performance and user-experience boost by replacing it with EfficientGlideRecord and adding any fields referenced in the callback function... but **just how much performance improvement are we talking about here**? Is it actually worth it?_"

Oh my sweet summer child... even I was baffled when I did my performance testing, at _just how inefficient_ the client-side `GlideRecord` is, and by just how much performance could be improved with `EfficientGlideRecord`.

As you can see in the [Performance section](https://snprotips.com/blog/2022/10/19/efficientgliderecord-a-faster-more-efficient-client-side-gliderecord-free-tool#performance) (or in the image below), with the fastest internet, performance was improved by **80%** (from nearly three full seconds, down to about half a second). For larger queries by users with a slower 1-10Mbps internet connection, performance was improved by as much as **93%** \- from \~71,700 milliseconds, down to \~5,100ms.

Read on to learn more, see usage examples, and download this free tool as an Update Set!