All web pages are divided into static and dynamic by the “behaviour” of documents in a browser. Also, these terms are often used for dividing the documents on static and dynamic by the mode of document creation. For our article we’ll need the first definition.
What Are Static Web Sites?
A static HTML page is a page always looking in the same way. It doesn’t depend on the actions of the user. For instance, a static page would have a menu with one link for every page, while dynamic pages would have a drop-list in this case.
Static sites are easy to develop and do not need any major resources for functioning. However, it’s worth stating that this type of web pages is mostly used for presentation web sites. It will be quite hard to create a static site processing big amounts of data well. Also, it is better to use static sites if your project is not very big, and you only need to place some information about it on the web.
The most common make-up language used for static pages is HTML. If you create a web site, and your company grows well, you’ll have to change some data at the web page. This means you’ll have to hire an employee with good HTML skills to improve your static web site or even convert it into a dynamic one when it gets bigger.
How Dynamic Sites Work?
Dynamic HTML pages can react on the behaviour of user and change their view or structure. For example, when you click on text, dynamic pages can show you a pop-up window with the translation of a certain word. This technology is widely used in many web sites, including those of very popular companies.
Dynamics at different web pages are realized by special scripts executed by web browsers. Many elements of HTML coding language can define an event processor. For example, you can set the “click” event for a picture on the page. Now, clicking on the picture will result in a certain action defined by the processor. Does it sound a bit complicated? Don’t worry, when you try it in practice, it’ll be much easier.
One of the most popular scripts for introducing dynamics into a web page is JavaScript. If your site contains web content that changes very frequently, you can speed-up performance by choosing scripts executed by the server. The mechanism of server scripts performance is quite different from browser ones.
Server-powered scripts work like this: the browser sends a request to the server; the server defines the script and processes it; the script generates an HTML page; the server sends the processed HTML page to the browser.
There is a wide range of coding languages used for creating scripts generating “dynamic” pages. They include Perl, SSI, PHP, ASP, Python and Java. Every of these languages has special spheres of use and advantages, but still the most popular language for server-processed dynamics is PHP. This is proved not only by its good performance, but also by market offers: you can find a lot of PHP hosting packages in the market.
Dynamic vs. Static – What to Choose?
The two types of web pages we have observed have quite different areas of usage. As it was already stated above, static pages are more appropriate for minor sites that do not need to process big amounts of data. Dynamic web pages will help you organize big volumes of information into a well-structured system that will provide users only with necessary information.
Both static and dynamic pages have advantages and disadvantages. Static web sites are easier to develop and use the minimum of servers resources, which is very good for a start-up project. You can also fill a static page the way you like, as it doesn’t depend on any determined structure. Still, static pages require an HTML expert to edit the content. It will also be hard to support the integrity of the site as it develops further, especially if you’ll have over 1,000 pages.
A dynamic web site is usually managed with the help of easy interface. This means you can edit, add and delete content from your site without even knowing HTML. Due to a well-arranged system, it can develop autonomously, and this will cause you no problems. Another outstanding feature of dynamic web sites is their long term of life. As their pages are dynamic, the whole site is constantly kept up in search lists.
Speaking about disadvantages of dynamic web sites, it’s worth to outline two key factors: high price and bigger resources use. The high price is motivated by the necessity of serious developers’ work and constant support. Logically, if the structure of the web site is more complicated, it requires more resources from the server, so even not every type of hosting will work with big dynamic sites well.
Taking into consideration all advantages and disadvantages of static and dynamic web sites, we can say that the static ones are good for small projects or start-ups requiring small sites and minimal financial costs. The dynamic sites are better for major companies that need a serious system for managing big amounts of data on their web site.
