Question

Hi I just want to know what the best practice is for dynamically creating html. I can do it in two ways

Direct PHP

<div id='id-here'>
    <?php
        $user->id = $_GET['id'];
        $user->displayUserInformation( );
    ?>
</div>

jQuery ajax(js script called on page load)

$.ajax({
    type: 'GET',
    url: 'inc/user_information.php',
    data: 'user_id=user_id', //assuming user_id value was already set.
    success: function(html)
    {
        $('#user_information').empty().html(html);
    }  
});

Note: This code doesn’t exist and is purely for showing what I mean^^ I also know jQuery load, but prefer to use jQuery ajax for complex stuff.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The PHP method is certainly more reliable, as it doesn’t require javascript in the client. For information that isn’t expected during a page’s lifetime, or indeed a user’s session it also makes a lot more sense. I don’t imagine the information on a user is likely to change that much during a page view.

However, if there is some data that’s expected to change, say a post count or something, then use PHP to set the initial value, then use ajax to update it only when the value actually changes.