Item — HN Reader

Interesting to see the differences between InstaClick and Pjax.

InstantClick

  - InstantClick is a little easier to implement, with nothing required server-side
  - InstantClick works to reduce latency by prefetching page content on hover.
  - InstantClick always replaces the body's outerHTML
  - InstantClick provides a YouTube style loading progress bar

Pjax[1]

  - You specify specifically which page element is replaced (using the ID)
  - You set up your app to return only the required page fragment on ajax calls
  - No loading bar is included, but can easily be added
  - Content is not prefetched on hover

I think I still prefer the pjax approach because it sends less data over the wire. However, would be interesting to see a hybrid of the two approaches.

Also worth noting that both essentially turn your site into a single-page app that updates the browser URL bar using pushState. Both approaches also degrade nicely.

[1] https://github.com/defunkt/jquery-pjax