What does "pagination" mean in programming?
pagination is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
Breaking a large dataset into pages so an API or UI returns a manageable subset of results at a time. Two common strategies: offset-based (page 1, page 2, ...) which is simple but inconsistent when data changes, and cursor-based (next_cursor) which is stable and performant for large datasets.
Example
"The /users endpoint returns 50 results per page. Pass ?page=2 for the next 50, or use the next_cursor from the response for cursor-based pagination."
Related terms
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