Infinite scroll vs pagination
Two ways to end a long list: keep appending as the user scrolls, or split it into numbered pages you can link to and come back to.
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What it is
Two answers to the same question: what happens at the bottom of a long list. Infinite scroll appends the next batch automatically as the user approaches the end. Pagination cuts the list into numbered chunks you can link to, bookmark, and count. There is a third option people forget: a Load more button, which streams like infinite scroll but leaves the user in control and the footer reachable.
Pick infinite scroll for open-ended browsing where nobody needs to find item 4,207 again: social feeds, image galleries, discovery. Pick pagination when position matters, when results are compared or audited, when people share links to a specific page, or when 'how many are there' is a real question. Search results and admin tables almost always want pages.
The gotchas are the whole story. Infinite scroll orphans the footer, breaks back-button scroll restoration unless you save and restore position yourself, and strands keyboard and screen reader users who cannot reach a moving end. On the data side, offset pagination (LIMIT/OFFSET) can duplicate or skip rows when an insert or a delete shifts the offsets between two requests, which is exactly what happens on a live list, so use cursor (keyset) pagination when the underlying data moves under you.
Ask AI for it
Choose and implement the right long-list pattern for this screen, and say why you chose it before you write the code. Use numbered pagination for goal-directed search, comparison, auditing, and any position someone will link to or come back to; infinite scroll for open-ended browsing where nobody needs to find item 4,207 again; a 'Load more' button when continuous accumulation is useful but the user should stay in control and the footer has to stay reachable. Back it with cursor (keyset) pagination rather than offset. Load 24 items per batch, keep the position and filters in the URL so the view is shareable and survives a refresh, and restore scroll position when the user returns via the back button. Show a skeleton row set while a batch is in flight, announce 'showing 48 of 312' in an aria-live region after each load, and make every control reachable by keyboard. Add a visible 'End of results' marker and an error state with a Retry button that does not lose already-loaded items.