Full image path?

[gothicuser]

I believe I read somewhere that to use the full image path is less processor intensive than to use variables
i.e:

http://fred.com/fredsforum/images/stylename/misc/image.gif

instead of:

$stylevar[imgdir_misc]/image.gif

What is your advice?
Oh, another thing just springs to mind, if the full path is recommended, is the URL needed?
i.e.:

http://fred.com/fredsforum/images/stylename/misc/image.gif

as opposed to:

/fredsforum/images/stylename/misc/image.gif

[Princeton]

I guess it would help but it will not be noticable.
I recommend keeping the variables as it decreases time spent on "editing" a style.

If it's the same server, you don't need the full image url ... I recommend against this practice.
For each full url, you are asking the server to check domain and fetch image (http hit).

- server doesn't understand what is "fred.com"
- server has to check and convert "fred.com" to something it understands
- server understand IP address
- server sends image

Servers are so fast to day, that you really don't see the difference but it could make a difference on big boards.

[gothicuser]

Many thanks for making that clearer
I dabble, but have no knowledge