Static vs Dynamic Website

With the emergence of dynamic websites, it seems that static websites are becoming a thing of the past, but thanks to the advent of various static site generators and frameworks which have giving life back to a static website, this has led to the debate about which is better static or dynamic.

When it comes to websites, there are basically two main types static and dynamic.

The static website is the earliest and the most basic type of website it is the easiest to create since it doesn’t require any type of database or custom coding, it displays the same content to every user who visits the site, on the other hand, a dynamic website is more complex and the pages on a dynamic website is retrieved from the database and it is able to display different content using the same source code to every user who visits the site.

This guide is an unbiased comparison between static and dynamic websites to enable you to distinguish between the two and help you decide which type is better for you or your business.

Things we are going to be looking at:

• What is a static website?
• Advantages of static website
• Disadvantages of static website
• What is a dynamic website?
• advantages of a dynamic website
• disadvantages of a dynamic website
• Summary of the difference between a static and dynamic website
• which should you go for
• conclusion

What is a static website?

Static websites are a type of website that is made up of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript not necessarily the three of them, you can have a static website with just plain HTML if you want but definitely not more.

and when I talk about JavaScript I don’t mean Node.js. I mean JavaScript that runs in the browser.

Static websites are not necessarily all static, they can involve some basic interactivity, like interactivity with hyperlinks, images, or graphics.

the term “static” comes from the fact that It doesn’t require server-side scripting.

The HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code is not generated dynamically, but it is written by a web developer manually and hosted in the server in the version the user receives it.

Though the JavaScript can perform some basic DOM manipulation, the input files and the raw source code files are already pre-built, and the source code doesn’t change thereby displaying contents in the same format to every user who visits the site.

If any changes are to be made on the site, then they must be made directly from the source code which involves editing each page separately.

Examples of Static Websites

The major examples of static websites are as follows:

• Blog websites
• Newsletter Contents
• Landing page
• Forms
• A website that involves developing Cache
• Website presentation
• Documentation

Advantages of static websites

• The cost of building is cheap
• They are more secure.
• The time it takes to build a static website is short.
• High rendering speed
• Hosting a static website is cheap due to its small size.
• Static websites don’t need many systems like the database to operate so they are less likely to fail.
• Less processing due to its simple structure.

Disadvantages of static websites

• There is no interaction with the user.
• Updating multiple pages is slower and harder since it may require updating each page individually.
• It does not provide many features of modern websites.

What is a Dynamic website?

A dynamic website is characterized by a constant change in its content, and its ability to allow each content to be created and displayed according to the user’s preference, demographics, location, language settings, time of day, and so on.

It is a more functional and interactive website that is developed using scripting language on both client-side and server-side to give it dynamic features

Examples of dynamic websites

• 4) Facebook. …
• 1) Netflix. …
• 2) Amazon. …
• 3) HubSpot. …

Advantages of dynamic website

• With a dynamic website, users get the opportunity to comment or give their opinion about a particular product or service
• A dynamic website is designed in a more interactive manner, which allows every user to easily make changes to the website depending on their personal requirement, leading to a better user experience.
• A dynamic website is easier to maintain, The database of all the elements is managed in a content management system which makes it possible to carry out changes on the full site without the need to make changes one by one on each individual page.
• Access to a dynamic website is limited. only users who have created an account with the website can access the website and its features using their name and password. Any other user who needs to visit the site will have to create an account, this helps to keep track of your traffic.
• The dynamic website provides an internal search engine that responds to requests from users.

Disadvantages of dynamic website

• High cost of development
• Dynamic websites take longer to load due to multiple components that need to be processed.
• Security risk is more in a dynamic website.
• The dynamic website requires knowledge of high programming languages such as Perl, PHP, or ASP. to develop it.

Summary of the difference between a static and dynamic website

1. A static website is built using HTML and CSS while a dynamic website is built with scripting languages such as PHP, ASP, JavaScript, etc.
2. Static websites are cheaper to host while dynamic websites are more costly to host
3. Contents on the static website are fixed no much interactivity while contents on the dynamic website are dynamic and have more interactivity
4. Changes on a static website are done directly from the HTML source code while changes on a dynamic website are done based on the user’s preference.
5. A static website is easy and takes less time to build while dynamic sites are more complex and take more time to build
6. Static websites are cheaper to host while a dynamic website is more costly to host.
7. Static websites are more secured while dynamic websites are exposed to security risks.
8. Static websites are suitable for small businesses that do not require regular changes to their content while dynamic websites are suitable for large business

Which should you go for?

Deciding between the two will depend on your personal choice, purpose, and resources you have at your disposal.

If you are looking to create a small website with a low budget, that does not involve much interactivity and where the user does not need to make choices, then going for a static website will be better since they are cheaper and quicker to build.

On the other hand, if you are looking at a more complex website for your business where users can have more interactivity and make choices then going for a dynamic website will be better.

Conclusion

We have been able to look at static and dynamic websites and their differences. The dynamic website is simple to create but they are very limited in that the user can not make changes based on their preference and every user is exposed to the same content.

But a dynamic website is more complex and takes more time to develop but it offers more interactivity for the user, by allowing each user to make changes based on their preference.