Cursor Based Pagination
Cursor based pagination is a technique for efficiently paginating through large datasets in APIs or databases by using a pointer (cursor) to a specific record, rather than relying on page numbers. It involves returning a subset of results along with a cursor token that clients can use to fetch the next or previous batch, ensuring stable and consistent navigation even as data changes. This method is particularly useful for real-time or frequently updated data where traditional offset-based pagination can lead to issues like duplicate or missing records.
Developers should use cursor based pagination when building APIs or applications that handle large, dynamic datasets where data consistency and performance are critical, such as social media feeds, real-time analytics, or e-commerce product listings. It prevents problems like skipped or repeated items that occur with offset pagination when data is inserted or deleted between requests, and it scales better for deep pagination by avoiding expensive offset calculations in databases.