Preloading vs Lazy Loading
Developers should use preloading when optimizing web applications for speed, particularly for resources that are essential for above-the-fold content or critical user interactions, such as custom fonts, JavaScript bundles for initial rendering, or large images meets developers should use lazy loading when building applications with large datasets, media-heavy content, or complex user interfaces to enhance performance and user experience. Here's our take.
Preloading
Developers should use preloading when optimizing web applications for speed, particularly for resources that are essential for above-the-fold content or critical user interactions, such as custom fonts, JavaScript bundles for initial rendering, or large images
Preloading
Nice PickDevelopers should use preloading when optimizing web applications for speed, particularly for resources that are essential for above-the-fold content or critical user interactions, such as custom fonts, JavaScript bundles for initial rendering, or large images
Pros
- +It is especially valuable in single-page applications (SPAs) and progressive web apps (PWAs) to reduce time-to-interactive and first-contentful-paint metrics, leading to better SEO rankings and user retention
- +Related to: web-performance, critical-rendering-path
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Lazy Loading
Developers should use lazy loading when building applications with large datasets, media-heavy content, or complex user interfaces to enhance performance and user experience
Pros
- +It is particularly useful in web development for loading images, videos, or JavaScript modules only when they become visible in the viewport, reducing bandwidth and speeding up page loads
- +Related to: code-splitting, dynamic-imports
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Preloading if: You want it is especially valuable in single-page applications (spas) and progressive web apps (pwas) to reduce time-to-interactive and first-contentful-paint metrics, leading to better seo rankings and user retention and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Lazy Loading if: You prioritize it is particularly useful in web development for loading images, videos, or javascript modules only when they become visible in the viewport, reducing bandwidth and speeding up page loads over what Preloading offers.
Developers should use preloading when optimizing web applications for speed, particularly for resources that are essential for above-the-fold content or critical user interactions, such as custom fonts, JavaScript bundles for initial rendering, or large images
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