Two kinds of navigation
The pathname decides where a round trip is unavoidable. The query string decides everything inside one.
This document was served at
21:07:51
A :server- value, frozen into the markup. It can only
change if a document was fetched.
The address is asking for
(nothing)
Sent to the server, unlike a #fragment — so the
response is already this screen.
One file, three screens
Every link above is the same file with a different query. The server renders the screen the query names, so this page is correct in the response before any JavaScript runs — which is what makes these addresses worth pasting into a chat window.
Watch the stamp while you move between them. It does not change, because nothing was fetched.
Now cross a seam
The reference page is a different file, so opening it is a round trip by design — and the stamp on the other side will say so. That is the choice the pathname makes: not a limitation to route around, but where you decided a fresh document was the right answer.
Source: demos/router