What technique can significantly improve performance when working with large datasets in tables or lists?
Virtual scrolling (also called windowing) can significantly improve performance when working with large datasets in tables or lists. This technique renders only the items currently visible in the viewport plus a small buffer, rather than rendering the entire dataset at once. The benefits are substantial: 1) Dramatically reduced DOM size, as only 20-30 rows might be rendered instead of thousands, 2) Minimized memory usage, 3) Improved rendering and scrolling performance, 4) Reduced initial load time, and 5) Better overall responsiveness. Libraries like react-window, react-virtualized, vue-virtual-scroller, or angular-cdk's virtual scroll implement this pattern efficiently. Virtual scrolling is essential for smooth performance with large datasets (hundreds or thousands of items) and is considered a best practice for data-heavy applications, especially on lower-powered devices or mobile browsers.