What is Offset Pagination?
A pagination method that skips a fixed number of records to get the next page of results.
Why It Matters
Offset pagination is simple to implement but can slow down with large datasets because the database still reads skipped rows.
Real-World Example
Requesting page 3 with 20 items per page means the database skips the first 40 items.
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Related Terms
Pagination
Breaking large lists of data into smaller pages that load separately
Query Optimisation
The process of making database queries run faster and use fewer resources.
Cursor-based Pagination
A pagination method that uses a pointer to the last item seen rather than page numbers.
Database
An organised collection of data that your application can store, retrieve, and update
SQL
A language for communicating with databases, used to create, read, update, and delete data
NoSQL
Databases that store data differently from traditional tables, often as flexible documents or key-value pairs