Re: Re[2]: Why style sheets

On Mon, 20 Jan 1997, Eric Holstege wrote:

> I think the main cost in downloading a (textual) page is generally the TCP 
> connection setup and the round-trip GET request for the HTTP transaction, not 
> the downloading time. Unless it is cached, an external style sheet requires a 
> second HTTP transaction, and hence a second TCP connection setup, whereas 
> putting style info into the documents just results in a few hundred extra bytes 
> download in an otherwise already-established TCP connection. I think that winds 
> up being generally faster.

Persistent connections and caching tilt the balance the other way since
you are reduced to only one extra GET RTT and get object re-use of the
stylsheet from then on.  Putting it into each document individually
results in paying the byte overhead on *every* document (a lose for more
than a very small number documents over a single GET RTT) and loses the
most important characteristic of stylesheets - their re-use in many
documents.

-- 
Jerry

Received on Monday, 20 January 1997 15:37:34 UTC