Static vs Dynamic Sites

In this article, we will find out what is meant by “dynamic” and “static” websites. What they are, what are their differences and benefits and lastly,

Static Websites

A static site is a website composed of HTML files, wherein each file represents a physical page of a website. As the word “static” suggests, its code is fixed but can be updated manually. Static web pages are delivered to the user’s web browser exactly as stored. Thus, the same content is delivered every time the page is loaded.

Here are some examples of sites that can be made, statically:

• Personal blog posts
• Documentation pages
• Landing pages
• Portfolio pages
• Brochure sites

The utilization of a static website might sound limiting, a lot can be done without introducing any dynamic elements onto a page.

In the vast majority of cases, static websites will load much faster than their dynamic counterparts. That’s because your servers have to deal with far fewer requests, and there’s no database involved.

However, any website that requires a database is out of the question. That means that you can’t use static website generators to create online shops, blog posts with comment sections, websites with user registration, and so on.

Here is a list of popular Static Site Generators available:

• Jekyll - a Ruby-based static site generator.
• Hugo - an open-source static website generator that bills itself as a “general-purpose” framework
• Gridsome - a static site generator with tools like Vue.js and GraphQL

Benefits of a static site:

Static websites tend to be more secure.

this is due to static websites not requiring to have any databases to store and retrieve information. This makes it so that there is no vital/sensitive data that may be stolen as what would only be hosted on the site is information that was willingly placed there.

Dynamic websites

A dynamic web page is a web page constructed at runtime as opposed to a static web page, delivered as it is stored. A server-side dynamic web page is a web page whose construction is controlled by an application server processing server-side scripts. In server-side scripting, parameters determine how the assembly of every new web page proceeds, including the setting up of more client-side processing. It has access to the server’s resources, such as its CPU, memory, and storage, as well as any databases or other servers that the web application uses.

A client-side dynamic web page processes the web page using JavaScript running in the browser as it loads. JavaScript can interact with the page via the Document Object Model, to query page state and modify it. Client-side processes, on the other hand, have access only to the resources of the user’s device, such as its CPU, memory, and storage.

By utilizing both scripting methods, modern websites can adapt to each user’s view of the page while decreasing server load time.

Benefits of a dynamic site:

A more personalized browsing experience

Having a dynamic website allows you to give visitors a personalized browsing experience. This can include product suggestions and features for recently viewed items. Your site can also offer content based on location and demographics to help visitors stay on your page.

Scalability & Maintainance

A content management system that has the database for all elements, (including the content on the page) is used for dynamic websites. They also use scripting languages that primarily interact with all the database’s information, making it possible to execute site-wide changes without needing to do changes one by one. Uploading content and editing design elements or backgrounds can all be done with relative ease.

Better user experience

A dynamic website is designed to be very user-friendly, allowing users to easily make changes to the website depending on their requirements. These sites are interactive, which lets the visitors leave a comment or reply based on their experience while they’re on the website.

Conclusion

When it comes to making websites, there is no one definitive method or tool to utilize. It all boils down to what you want to have in a website, and the skills of the developer to implement those features. One has to know which tool to use to satisfy the requirements of an issue. In this industry, there are many ways to tackle the same problem, and that’s the beauty of being a software engineer.