What is output buffering?

Question

What is output buffering and why is one using it in PHP?

Answer 1

UPDATE 2019. If you have dedicated server and SSD or better NVM, 3.5GHZ. You shouldn't use buffering to make faster loaded website in 100ms-150ms.

Becouse network is slowly than proccesing script in the 2019 with performance servers (severs,memory,disk) and with turn on APC PHP :) To generated script sometimes need only 70ms another time is only network takes time, from 10ms up to 150ms from located user-server.

so if you want be fast 150ms, buffering make slowl, becouse need extra collection buffer data it make extra cost. 10 years ago when server make 1s script, it was usefull.

Please becareful output_buffering have limit if you would like using jpg to loading it can flush automate and crash sending.

Cheers.

You can make fast river or You can make safely tama :)