CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpjqueryhtmlajaxjson
cww
cww

Reputation: 653

jquery ajax - return json or plain html better

When the time return from ajax, I should return as json encode, and use jquery.parseJSON and use document.createElement and append the data inside the Element that just created.

or it is better to return as html text?

example,

<div id="contentcontainer"></div>

$.ajax({
   type: "POST",
   url: "some.php",
   data: "name=John",
   success: function(msg){
     msgObj = jquery.parseJSON(msg);
     var div = document.createElement('div');
     div.style.color="red";
     $(div).append(msgObj.name);
     $('#contentcontainer').append(div);
   }
 });

 //some.php
 if($_POST['name']){
    echo json_encode( array('name'=>$_POST['name']) );
 }

OR I should do like this?

<div id="contentcontainer"></div>

$.ajax({
   type: "POST",
   url: "some.php",
   data: "name=John",
   success: function(msg){ 
     $('#contentcontainer').append(msg);
   }
 });

 //some.php
 if($_POST['name']){
    echo '<div style="color:red">'.$_POST['name'].'</div>';
 }

Ammended... sorry for my bad grammar

Of course, this is just a example, real case it would have a lot of data, may be in html table format.

Of course, this is just a example, real case it would have a lot of data.

if it has a lot of data, then I need to write a lot of document.createElement(). and it consumes time to write like this document.createElement('table'); document.createElement('tr');

instead of (Return as HTML and just append in the container)

For me I think second format( return HTML ) is easier.

But not sure for the performance wise, which is better?

Please advise.

Upvotes: 8

Views: 9859

Answers (3)

Calvin
Calvin

Reputation: 8765

Both Sébastien and Zain have valid points. It depends what kind of performance you're talking about.

If you want to reduce your server's bandwidth, then you should return JSON and create your display using client-side javascript.

However if your dataset is large, on most machines creating your display client-side could lag the browser and cause the UI to become unresponsive. If that is important to you then you might consider returning HTML from the server.

Upvotes: 6

Zain Shaikh
Zain Shaikh

Reputation: 6043

no, I would not recommend returning html from php page. only return the json data and parse it on client side and show on UI. because html will always be heavier than json. so if you use json it will save your bandwidth.

In case you want an example, just go and check out what twitter is doing, they only return json and then manipulate json on client side.

Upvotes: 0

S&#233;bastien VINCENT
S&#233;bastien VINCENT

Reputation: 1106

Yes you should return HTML if you don't have manipulation/interpretation to do with the result of your AJAX call.

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions