When do you want more/less http requests? [closed]

Question

It seems like to have you page load fast, you would want a series of small http requests.

If it was one big one, the user might have to wait much longer to see that the page was there at all.

However, I'v heard that minimizing your HTTP requests is more efficient. For example, this is why sprites are created for multiple images.

Is there a general guideline for when you want more and when you want less?

Answer 1

Multiple requests create overhead from both the connection and the headers.

Its like downloading the contents of an FTP site, one site has a single 1GB blob, another has 1,000,000 files totalling a few MB. On a good connection, the 1GB file could be downloaded in a few minutes, but the other is sure to take all day because the transfer negotiation ironically takes more time that the transfer itself.

HTTP is a bit more efficient than FTP, but the principle is the same. What is important is the initial page load, which needs to be small enough to show some content to the user, then load additional assets outside of the user's view. A page with a thousand tiny images will benefit from a sprite always because the negotiations would not only cause strain to the connection, but also potentially the client computer.