What is more effective: generating/eradicating HTML components or concealing them until required?

Question

What is more effective: generating/eradicating HTML components or concealing them until required?

When it comes to showing/hiding content, there are two main approaches that I would consider:

Creating and destroying elements as needed using jQuery's append() and remove() methods.
Having all elements already in the HTML but hiding/disabling them when necessary.

So, which method is considered best practice? Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

For instance, let's take a website where users can capture a photo with their webcam. The webcam window appears in a separate overlapping window above all other site content. Once a picture is taken, the webcam overlay is removed. In this scenario, you could opt to hide or insert/remove the webcam window.

jquery css html

Answer 1

Answer №1

There is a middle-ground solution that combines the strengths of multiple approaches mentioned earlier. Instead of constantly creating and destroying elements using append and remove, consider separating the creation of an element from its attachment to the DOM.

For example, when creating a div:

var node = $('<div>node content</div>);

Attaching the div:

parent.append(node);

By storing elements in variables (or 'caching' them), you can attach and detach them as needed without repeatedly creating the same element. This eliminates unnecessary processing costs associated with recreating elements, while also preventing the cluttering of the DOM with unused nodes, which could slow down the user experience.

This balanced approach optimizes performance and enhances the overall user interface.

Answer 2

There is a middle-ground solution that combines the strengths of multiple approaches mentioned earlier. Instead of constantly creating and destroying elements using append and remove, consider separating the creation of an element from its attachment to the DOM.

For example, when creating a div:

var node = $('<div>node content</div>);

Attaching the div:

parent.append(node);

By storing elements in variables (or 'caching' them), you can attach and detach them as needed without repeatedly creating the same element. This eliminates unnecessary processing costs associated with recreating elements, while also preventing the cluttering of the DOM with unused nodes, which could slow down the user experience.

This balanced approach optimizes performance and enhances the overall user interface.

What is more effective: generating/eradicating HTML components or concealing them until required?

Answer №1

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