Incremental DOM and Virtual DOM are both programming concepts used to optimize the process of updating the Document Object Model (DOM) in web applications, but they operate in fundamentally different ways.
What is Incremental DOM?
Incremental DOM is a library used for building up DOM trees and updating them in-place when data changes. This approach does not require the creation of a full virtual tree of the DOM. Instead, it updates the existing DOM tree directly, applying changes incrementally as they occur. This method is particularly memory-efficient because it only requires memory allocation when DOM nodes are added or removed, rather than maintaining a complete virtual representation of the DOM at all times[7][9][15][16].
How is Incremental DOM Different from Virtual DOM?
Memory Efficiency:
Incremental DOM: It operates directly on the real DOM and updates elements in-place. This approach minimizes memory usage because it does not create a separate copy of the DOM tree. Memory is only allocated for the elements that are actually changing, making it highly efficient, especially on devices with limited memory[1][7][9].
Virtual DOM: In contrast, Virtual DOM involves creating a complete virtual copy of the DOM tree every time a change occurs. This copy is then compared to the previous version, and only the differences are applied to the real DOM. While this can be faster for large batches of changes, it requires more memory to hold the entire virtual DOM representation[3][4][5][6][17].
Performance Trade-offs:
Incremental DOM: The direct manipulation of the DOM can be slower than Virtual DOM for large updates because each change is processed individually rather than in batches. However, for smaller updates or when changes are infrequent, Incremental DOM can be more efficient[7][9][15].
Virtual DOM: Generally faster for large updates because it reduces direct DOM manipulation by batching changes. This can lead to better performance in scenarios where large parts of the view need to be updated simultaneously[3][4][5][6][17].
Use Case Suitability:
Incremental DOM: Often used in frameworks like Angular, esp...
