Dynamic web page

A dynamic web page is a <a href="/facts/Web_page/5JK7xQLe">web page</a> constructed at runtime (during <a href="/facts/Software_execution/1fyfGMFm">software execution</a>), as opposed to a <a href="/facts/Static_web_page/BtP4660l">static web page</a>, delivered as it is stored.
A server-side dynamic web page is a <a href="/facts/Web_page/5JK7xQLe">web page</a> whose construction is controlled by an <a href="/facts/Application_server/wHYtgYK5">application server</a> processing server-side scripts. In <a href="/facts/Server-side_scripting/JnLx8FnL">server-side scripting</a>, <a href="/facts/Parameter_(computer_programming)/LcuLbbSq">parameters</a> determine how the assembly of every new <a href="/facts/Web_page/5JK7xQLe">web page</a> proceeds, and including the setting up of more client-side processing.
A client-side dynamic web page processes the web page using <a href="/facts/JavaScript/XhhIIEsl">JavaScript</a> running in the browser as it loads. JavaScript can interact with the page via <a href="/facts/Document_Object_Model/GglE6jGx">Document Object Model</a> (DOM), to query page state and modify it. Even though a web page can be dynamic on the client-side, it can still be hosted on a static <a href="/facts/Web_hosting_service/sDHN29ve">hosting service</a> such as <a href="/facts/GitHub_Pages/n1hNCsc3">GitHub Pages</a> or <a href="/facts/Amazon_S3/bqAXYCxq">Amazon S3</a> as long as there is not any server-side code included.
A dynamic web page is then reloaded by the user or by a <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">computer program</a> to change some variable content. The updating information could come from the server, or from changes made to that page's DOM. This may or may not truncate the <a href="/facts/Web_browsing_history/Ted9Hbx4">browsing history</a> or create a saved version to go back to, but a dynamic web page update using <a href="/facts/Ajax_(programming)/cS0P0whT">AJAX</a> technologies will neither create a page to go back to, nor truncate the web browsing history forward of the displayed page. Using AJAX, the end <a href="/facts/User_(computing)/zQRzG0KG">user</a> gets one dynamic page managed as a single page in the <a href="/facts/Web_browser/2pfyymLs">web browser</a> while the actual <a href="/facts/Web_content/u4p0t6kz">web content</a> rendered on that page can vary. The AJAX engine sits only on the browser requesting parts of its DOM, the DOM, for its client, from an application server. A particular application server could offer a standardized <a href="/facts/Representational_state_transfer/Q58zfr5h">REST</a> style interface to offer services to the web application.
<a href="/facts/DHTML/XrmcmIv5">DHTML</a> is the umbrella term for technologies and methods used to create web pages that are not <a href="/facts/Static_web_page/BtP4660l">static web pages</a>, though it has fallen out of common use since the popularization of AJAX, a term which is now itself rarely used. Client-side-scripting, server-side scripting, or a combination of these make for the dynamic web experience in a browser.

Dynamic web page open-in-new

Dynamic web page