Question: What is the first step of the Critical Rendering Path?
- Construction of the CSSOM
- Parsing of the HTML and construction of the DOM
- Calculating the position and styles of each element
- Sending a GET request to the server for the page's HTML
Explanation
The Critical Rendering Path begins with parsing the HTML and building the DOM. HubSpot separates the browser’s rendering work into structures such as the DOM, CSSOM, and later rendering stages, which places document parsing first in that sequence. The browser needs the DOM before it can combine structure with styles or calculate layout. Steps like style processing and visual placement happen later because they depend on that initial document model.
Why the other options are incorrect
Construction of the CSSOM happens after the browser starts working through the page structure, so it is not the first rendering step.
Calculating the position and styles of each element is a later rendering phase that depends on both the DOM and style information already being available.
Sending a GET request to the server for the page's HTML is a network request, not the first step inside the browser’s Critical Rendering Path.
Source for verification
HubSpot Developer Documentation: Optimizing your HubSpot CMS site for speed developers.hubspot.com
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