Are they two different concepts or two similar concepts?
Here is the conundrum related to the difference between the two concepts of web designing solved. You can take a look at the difference as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the concepts explained.
Quote on Responsive web design– “Creating a Responsive Web Design is about using HTML and CSS to automatically resize your web design to make it look good on all devices irrespective of its size”. Diana Long
Quote on adaptive web design – “An adaptive web design is about smartly using a GUI design that adapts to different screen sizes on its own.”
Definition of Responsive web design-
The idea of having a responsive design is to have one design, but with several different elements that are optimized to respond differently when they are viewed on devices of different types and sizes.
Keywords– Single Design, Optimized to respond, devices of different size and types
Definition of Adaptive Web Design-
A varied range of designing strategies that can be collated with responsive web design to promote the several versions of a web page or site to enable it to better fit the user’s device.
Keywords– Designing strategies, collated with responsive web design, to better fit user’s device
Differences Between the Two Types of Web Design
| Responsive | Adaptive |
| Single design optimized for the use on any device | Single design optimized for the use on one particular device only |
| This design is device independent | This design is device dependent |
| All the elements of the page are downloaded to optimize it for standard use. | Only the elements on-page that are required are downloaded to suit the particular user device |
| Single Template for all the devices | Separate Template for separate devices |
Advantages and Disadvantages
Responsive Web Design Advantages
- User-friendly and flexible on all screen sizes
- Cost-effective as only one design needs to be created
- Sync between various devices can be completed without any redirection
Responsive Web Design Disadvantages
- Involves a lot of re-building work of existing web pages
- Reported to be incompatible with older devices
- Takes longer time to load
Adaptive Web Design Advantages
- Lower implementation cost
- Time-efficient coding
- Compatible with older devices too
Adaptive Web Design Disadvantages
- Complex coding required
- Cross-linking becomes difficult because of multiple website versions
- Higher Manufacturing cost
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