HTTP, HTML, and Waterfall
Web pages on the World Wide Web use a code called HTML which is used to make web pages. A single website can have many HTML files contained within it but the purpose of these files is to be eventually accessible by the user. The way these files will eventually get to the user is through HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). HTTP is a protocol that determines how the user can request and receive data, such as web pages, on the Internet. In short, the user sends requests for a piece of data with an identifier, typically a URL, and the server will send back the requested info.
When one loads a web page it takes time to load everything on the page (such as pictures and hyperlinks) depending on the content of the page. The chart of a website's load time is called a waterfall and through this chart you can view how long certain elements, such as pictures, take to load one after the other. Certain types of web pages have different general load sequences. A static web page with unchanging content will load everything at once, it only takes a matter of milliseconds. This is because it contains a few elements and what is on it is defined, meaning it doesn't constantly change. Dynamic websites, on the other hand, are constantly changing with content such as text or photos constantly changing. For these dynamic websites load times might be longer and not everything is loaded at once. Because certain elements are always being changed it can't load at once. Finally, sites that take user input could load at once but as the user starts interacting with the site different things will be requested for and will load on the site. It changes, just like a dynamic site, but requires user input to do so.
When one loads a web page it takes time to load everything on the page (such as pictures and hyperlinks) depending on the content of the page. The chart of a website's load time is called a waterfall and through this chart you can view how long certain elements, such as pictures, take to load one after the other. Certain types of web pages have different general load sequences. A static web page with unchanging content will load everything at once, it only takes a matter of milliseconds. This is because it contains a few elements and what is on it is defined, meaning it doesn't constantly change. Dynamic websites, on the other hand, are constantly changing with content such as text or photos constantly changing. For these dynamic websites load times might be longer and not everything is loaded at once. Because certain elements are always being changed it can't load at once. Finally, sites that take user input could load at once but as the user starts interacting with the site different things will be requested for and will load on the site. It changes, just like a dynamic site, but requires user input to do so.
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