100 points to know about...
Eco-Design Web Development

As we have seen before, the world wide web has become wider and wider since its creation in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee and since the first website went online in 1991. In May 2022, the number of online sites was estimated to be almost 2 billion. 400 million of these sites would be active, which means that 80% of all websites worldwide seem to be inactive. The number of web pages is estimated at 4.2 billion.
There are different types of web pages online. We will focus on two categories here: static pages and dynamic pages.

Before defining a static and a dynamic webpage, some definitions can be useful: web server and database.

Web server

A web server is a system (software or computer) that provides web-based services such as storing the files that make up a website (content, images, style sheets, etc.) and sending them to the user's device when visiting a webpage. In other words, a web server accepts requests for information and sends the required file to a user.

Database

A database is a collection of data that is organized, stored and accessible from a computer system when a request is sent. The database will then process, manage, organize and provide access to data that are relevant for this specific request.

Static webpage

A static webpage is not a page without movement or animation, but a page that is displayed exactly as it was written, configured and stored (not generated) on a web server. This means that, when a user visits a static webpage or interacts with it (clicking on a button for example), all the information required to achieve this interaction has been included and programmed into the page code since the site was first put online (or last updated). The content of the page will not change until the code itself is changed, and is the same for every user.

Dynamic webpage

A dynamic webpage is a webpage whose content is contextually generated on the server, based on the user’s request. This means that, when a user visits a dynamic webpage or interacts with it, the final result seen by the user has been “calculated” on-demand, at that very moment, by “calling” the web server and a database. The content of the webpage is not the same for every user and will change according to several factors: the user’s request, his or her profile, location, time zone, the language used, etc. and also the updates and changes made within the database.

Static and dynamic: differences

A website can have both static and dynamic pages depending on the function of the page: for social networks for example, “About us”, “Our missions/team” or “Contact us” pages are usually static pages, whereas the front page, blog/posts pages, or feed pages are dynamic pages.

Here are the main principles and phases of development and use for both webpages types:

Static webpages

Dynamic webpages

Which one is better?

It is generally said that the choice of the best type of website depends on what is expected of the future website (function, design, etc.). However, you should keep in mind that it is connected to the current trends of the internet. These major trends are far from being part of an eco-design approach: they are logics applied by the big web companies such as the Big Five (Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft), which are companies with polluting activities. Above all, you must consider this question by taking an eco-design approach. This is what we are going to do in this lesson.

To go further

A real-time count of the number of sites online worldwide: https://www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites/