Lexicon

Static and dynamic sites

The short version

• A static site is a set of ready-made files. The server sends them exactly as they are.
• A dynamic site builds each page when someone asks for it, often from a database.
• Static sites are simpler and harder to attack. Dynamic sites can do more, such as logins and shopping carts.
• Static site generators and serverless functions sit between the two.

Static site

A static site is made of pages that are sent to the browser exactly as they are stored.^[1]

Every visitor sees the same page.^[1] It is like a printed leaflet: the words are fixed until someone prints a new one.

A static site needs only a web server, which sends the files as they are.^[2] That is why static sites are the easiest kind to set up.^[2]

For example, a small museum's opening hours page could be one HTML file. It only changes when the hours change.

See also: Static site generator · Content delivery network (CDN).

Dynamic site

A dynamic site builds its pages at the moment someone asks for them.^[3]

The server works on the content first, or creates it from a database on the spot.^[2] So two visitors can see different pages at the same address. A shop, for example, shows each shopper their own basket.

Big sites often work this way. They use a few page templates and one very large database, instead of thousands of separate files.^[2]

See also: Application server · Database · PHP.

Application server

An application server is the software that builds dynamic pages, usually by running code and reading from a database.^[2]

It works behind the web server, which passes the result on.^[2] For example, it might fill a page template with the latest news stories from a database.^[2] The web server then sends the finished page out.

See also: Dynamic site · Web server.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

CGI is an early, standard way for a web server to run another program to answer a request.^[4]

A typical use was a web form. When someone sent the form, the server ran a small program, called a CGI script, to handle it.^[4]

Origin: the CGI rules were written in 1993 by a team at NCSA.^[4] CGI was the first common way to make a web page interactive.^[4]

See also: Dynamic site · PHP.

Content management system (CMS)

A CMS is software for creating, editing and publishing content, such as the pages of a website.^[5]

You write in a simple editor, and the CMS turns your words into web pages. You don't need to touch code. Many hosting packages include a CMS for this reason.^[6]

WordPress is one example. Its posts are kept in a database.^[7]

See also: Dynamic site · Managed hosting.

Static site generator

A static site generator is a program that turns source files into a ready-made static website.^[8]

Authors write in a simple format, such as Markdown.^[8] The generator then builds every page once, ahead of time. The finished files go on the server.

That gives a site the speed of static pages, with some of the ease of a CMS. Generated sites are fast and simple to put online.^[8] With less software on the server, there is also less for attackers to break into.^[9]

See also: Static site · Content management system (CMS).

Serverless

Serverless is a way of running code in the cloud where the customer supplies only the code, not the servers.^[10]

There are still servers, of course. The provider sets them up and runs them.^[10] One common form is function as a service: a small piece of code that runs only when it is called.^[10]

For example, a static site could use one small function to handle its contact form. The rest of the site stays as plain files.

See also: Cloud hosting · Static site.