What is PHP output buffer?

PHP language is an interpreted language, that is, executing one statement after another. By default, a feature of PHP is that once a statement is executed to generate HTML, it sends the HTML in chunks; this feature makes the loading of web pages appear grainy and the loading time span may appear arbitrary.

The following example could be the loading time of a website that prevents adblocker or other similar applications from loading, where the content loads first and then displays a notification saying to disable adblocker to view the content.

This is where output buffering comes into play. By using output buffering, the generated HTML is stored in a buffer or variable and sent to the buffer for rendering after the last statement in the PHP script is executed. This is a significant improvement in performance and increases the aesthetic value of web pages. Here are a few advantages of using output buffering:

Advantages of Output Buffering

• When output buffering is enabled, developers can reduce the time between the server and the client browser number of interactions because the entire HTML is sent simultaneously, so for larger projects, output buffering provides a more time-efficient approach.

• Because the output buffer stores the entire HTML as a string, we can use all string methods or custom methods to manipulate the HTML, providing greater flexibility when rendering content.

• We can also apply various compression methods to create a more efficient rendering.

• Setting cookies and handling sessions is easier with output buffering because the header information is sent without the rest of the page content.

Notes

• As a more advanced topic, output buffering is not enabled by default.

• Output buffering can provide a faster, safer, more flexible, and less redundant rendering method. Output buffering also allows for advanced features such as minimization and reduction of database calls. Output buffering works with cookies and sessions.

• PHP provides an API to enable and access the output buffer.

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