Server-side rendering composes a web page’s HTML on the server before sending it to the browser. In Django, a URL selects a view, the view calls the template engine, and the resulting HTML becomes the browser’s response. section 1.0 section 1.2.1
The important boundary is where the page gets assembled:
- Server-side rendering assembles the template’s pieces on the server and sends completed HTML to the browser. section 1.2.1
- A single-page application assembles HTML in the browser using downloaded JavaScript, application logic, and data from the server. section 1.2.1
- Django can support either approach: its view can render HTML or serve data, commonly as JSON, to a browser-based application. section 1.2.1
A Django page request
A visitor enters a URL in the browser. Django routes that URL to a Python view; the view invokes the template engine, which combines reusable HTML pieces into a completed page and sends it back. The browser displays that HTML, but the server performed the composition. section 1.0 section 1.2.1
