Encyclopedia / Backend

Database

Where data that changes is stored and queried.

Relational databases (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite) store tables and are queried with SQL. Document and key-value stores (Firestore, Redis, Durable Objects) trade structure for speed or flexibility. A site needs one as soon as visitors create data.

SELECT title, slug FROM projects WHERE published = true ORDER BY date DESC;

Related terms

API Dynamic site

Where it shows up in a page load

  1. Step 6: Database query. Dynamic pages often need data such as a user's projects or the latest posts, so the function queries a database and puts the results into HTML or JSON. Static sites skip this step entirely.

Watch the full request journey →

More in Backend

Code and data that run on a server instead of in the visitor's browser.

API Authentication Environment variables & secrets Third-party services Webhook

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