For each page, you have a select statement. The first without offset, then with offset 10 limit 10, then offset 20 limit 10, offset 30 limit 10 and so on. The database engine will, for each query, read all entries up to the offset + limit. This is a staircase pattern: first it reads 10, then 20, then 30, and so on. So the sum of read entries is n * n / 2, which is O(n^2).
One could argue that the database engine should be "smarter", but it's not. Note that data could be added or removed in the meantime, so the database engine can't really cache the result. See also https://stackoverflow.com/questions/70519518/is-there-any-be...
One could argue that the database engine should be "smarter", but it's not. Note that data could be added or removed in the meantime, so the database engine can't really cache the result. See also https://stackoverflow.com/questions/70519518/is-there-any-be...