Eli5: What is RAM and why is it important for browsers?
In: Technology
RAM is one of the fastest storage methods in a computer but will not store data permanently. So whenever you power off the computer all the content of the RAM is gone. This makes RAM very good for temporary storage by applications. It is important to all applications. Browsers use a lot of ram in order to store the content of each web page you have open in your tabs and windows. But they do not just store the content as delivered from the web server but also a lot of the intermediary formats it uses when it converts the web page from raw html and css into a fully rendered page. This means that whenever something like a running script on the web page changes anything the browser does not have to go through all the processing again but can just track what changed in order to render the new web page. This makes your browsing experience faster and smoother but takes up a lot of memory.
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