Moderate Pagination Question 107 of 226

Offset pagination versus cursor pagination: which one breaks on a live feed?

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OFFSET skips N rows

Why interviewers care about Pagination:

They want a clean

contrast on Pagination, not two memorised paragraphs.

Say what changes for

the developer, then one case where picking wrong hurts.

Stay structured

Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.

Close cleanly

End with when you use it and one common pitfall.

Before you speak the answer, walk the interviewer through these steps:

1
Define it
OFFSET skips N rows
2
if new rows insert
at the top, the client sees duplicates or gaps.
3
A cursor, such as
(created_at, id), fetches rows after the last seen key and stays stable.
4
Offset is fine for
admin tables
5
cursors are the default
for infinite scrolls.
6
Close
When you pick this over the alternative.

Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:

Say this line

“A cursor, such as (created_at, id), fetches rows after the last seen key and sta”

Break into beats

Acursorsuchascreatedat

Speaking order

2987408337471632900

Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.

OFFSET skips N rows if new rows insert at the top, the client sees duplicates or gaps.