THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATIC AND DYNAMIC WEBSITES

Websites are the building blocks of the world wide web. Every day we browse the internet by navigating from one website to another or from one webpage to another.

Now, one thing that is clear is that all websites vary in one way or the other. Some based on structure, others content, some colours and so on. No two websites are exactly the same; even if their contents are mirrors of each other, their domain addresses must differ. 

In the same vein, today we will discuss the two types of websites and explore what makes them different from each other. 

Types of Websites

Sometimes, basically in the past, websites were categorized based on their domains, currently, with evolving trends in technology, this categorization is simply insufficient. Websites on the internet are categorized into two:

1. Static websites and;

2. Dynamic websites

What is a Static Website?

A static website is a website whose content cannot be changed without editing its source code. The content on a static website are fixed and every user sees the same content all the time.

Static websites are written basically in HTML. Colours and other styling features are added to the webpages using CSS.

As a result of this, static websites are easy to develop, cheaper to develop and also load on search engines lot faster than dynamic webpages.

So, unless a developer edits the content of a static website directly from its HTML code, it remains the same. 

Static webpages are developed without a database for storing information. Static websites are best for say a landing page for a company or business.

This is so because, these kinds of websites are seldomly updated and static websites get higher ranking on search engines compared to dynamic webpages.

What is a Dynamic Website?

Dynamic websites are the complete opposite of static websites. With a dynamic website, you do not require a developer to edit the content of the webpage(s). dynamic webpages can display different content from the same source code. For this singular reason, dynamic websites are mostly preferred to static websites even though they take longer time to load. Dynamic websites are built using back-end programming languages such as php, JavaScript, Python, etc. they also come with a database or a content management system.

The back-end of  dynamic website can generate html pages to reflect changes and display them on the front-end of the webpage in real time.

Hence, for the website to be truly interactive, the developer will combine both front-end programming and back-end programming for the best user experience.

A good example of a dynamic website is Facebook. Its content changes based on the account being accessed, the location of the account and the actions of the user.

The Difference Between Dynamic and Static Websites

The major difference between static and dynamic websites lies in the fact that the content of a static website cannot be changed except its source code is edited. A dynamic website on the other hand can be edited by the user. 

Another difference is that static websites are developed using HTML and CSS while Dynamic Websites are developed using server-side programming languages such as PHP, C#, JavaScript, Python, etc. 

Static websites are easier and take less time to build compared to dynamic websites. Static websites also load faster than dynamic websites because of the nature of their content. Static websites have no database and as such data cannot be stored on a static website. 

Finally, static websites are a lot less expensive than dynamic websites. 

That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading ;-)