1. To get started quickly, create a Web application using Manager and customize it in Visual Studio
2. Try to accomplish as much as possible using the simplest path.  Use the generic capabilities of the Web ADF Common API before delving into a data source specific API.
3. Get familiar with the asynchronous callback mechanism implemented by our controls.  Use Web ADF JavaScript to process custom callback content when possible.  Use CallbackResult and CallbackResults collection.  Use the Web ADF toolbar when possible since it wraps the callback mechanism for you.
4. When working with graphics in a Map, determine the best option for handling the graphics.  When working with dynamic data and the graphics aren’t too complex, use Web ADF graphics layers.  If data source graphics offer better performance, use them but note the limitations - which are different for each data source (e.g. only one graphics layer, another layer in the map image, no transparency settings). 
5. In a Map control, depending on the resource blending (browser vs Web), only refresh the resource necessary, not the entire map.

These are just a start - more later.

I am always on the lookout for increased performance in WebGIS applications, especially with 9.2.  Part of this search is an understanding of the basic components that I need to use to develop these applications.  I shared part of this at the last ESRI UC.

At the last ESRI User Conference, I gave a presentation on Developing Web Applications with ArcGIS Server .NET.  At the session, I had a few slides that discussed Best Practices one of which was to Understand the network.  More specifically, at most, browser uses 2 simultaneous connections per domain. 

Well, recently, we found more specifics on this in the form of a MS Article ID: 183110 published January 23, 2006.  In summary:

WinInet limits the number of simultaneous connections that it makes to a single HTTP server. If you exceed this limit, the requests block until one of the current connections has completed. This is by design and is in agreement with the HTTP specification and industry standards.

IE uses Wininet.  The HTTP 1.0 spec mandates 4 simultaneous connections while the HTTP 1.1 spec (RFC2616) mandates the two connection limit.

However, in this article it also documents how to override these default settings.  We (Rex Hansen and I) have recently tried this and found that by increasing the default connections to 5, we observed a noticeable performance increase, especially on load. 

NOTE: I do believe that there is a point of diminishing returns and I have not gone to that level of detail yet. Also, the MS Article warns not to do this in your everyday web surfing.

So, for all you WebGIS developers out there, try this out with 9.2 and let me know your findings.  As we do more, I will report it soon.