How the Internet Works, Eighth Edition

Chapter 41. How Animation on the Web Works

Animation on the Web works no differently than animation anywhere else. Just like in a flip book, animation is a series of still images displayed in succession to create an illusion of fluid motion. The faster the frames advance, the more fluid the animation becomes. Unfortunately, the Web can be a very slow place, and an animation that should run quickly often crawls across the screen unless special technology is used.

A number of different ways exist for creating web animations, including client pull, server push, animated GIFs, and the Shockwave and Flash multimedia plug-ins. In client pull ...