Dynamic websites contain Web pages that are generated in real-time. These pages include Web scripting code, such as PHP or ASP. When a dynamic page is accessed, the code within the page is parsed on the Web server and the resulting HTML is sent to the client's Web browser.
Most large websites are dynamic, since they are easier to maintain than static websites. This is because static pages each contain unique content, meaning they must be manually opened, edited, and published whenever a change is made. Dynamic pages, on the other hand, access information from a database. Therefore, to alter the content of a dynamic page, the webmaster may only need to update a database record. This is especially helpful for large sites that contain hundreds or thousands of pages. It also makes it possible for multiple users to update the content of a website without editing the layout of the pages.
Dynamic websites that access information from a database are also called database-driven websites.