A server-side variation of merging CSS and JavaScript files before uploading to the server is to do this digital suturing at the server. You can “suture” CSS or JavaScript files together before delivery from the server to save HTTP requests. Often developers create separate style sheets and scripts for organizational purposes, and import them into their pages as needed. There are two problems with this approach:
save http requests
CSS Sprites: How Yahoo.com and AOL.com Improve Web Performance
CSS sprites group multiple images into one composite image and display them using CSS background positioning. You can save a significant amount of HTTP requests by consolidating your images into one or more composite sprites and using CSS to selectively display parts of the sprite within your web page. Now that the major browsers have evolved enough to support CSS backgrounds and positioning, more sites are adopting this performance technique. In fact, some of the busiest sites on the Web use CSS sprites to save HTTP requests. In this article we’ll expand on our mini-CSS sprite example (mono-image CSS rollovers) to show how Yahoo! and AOL use sprites to improve performance.
Combine Images to Save HTTP Requests – use imagemaps on combined images with ismap usemap tutorial
One byproduct of automated image-slicing software is the plethora of images now populating the Web. As early as 2002 (King 2003) the average web page had over 24 embedded objects, with over half the total page size consisting of images. Today when we analyze web pages we commonly see 50 to 60 images per web page. The more round trip server requests you require in your pages, the longer and more indeterminate your load time becomes. One way to reduce the number of HTTP requests is to combine adjacent images into one composite image and optionally imagemap the links to different areas. This tutorial shows both client and server side techniques you can use to save precious HTTP requests and speed up your site.