Using .load() with selector to get part of a big file versus loading individual smaller files

Using .load() with selector to get part of a big file versus loading individual smaller files

A buddy of mine is working on a portfolio and he's using .load() to load in content dynamically.  His original plan was to have ALL of the content for ALL of his projects (right now that's about 14 projects) in one big HTML file and use .load() with a selector to load only the appropriate section of that file when called.  He was having some trouble with getting the dynamically loaded segments to run the <script> they had, and in trying to help him I suggested he have the content for each of his many projects in their own files.  He eventually agreed, and did so reluctantly, because for some reason he really preferred to have everything in a single file.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is... What are the pros and cons of loading a section of a large file versus an entire smaller file?  I would assume that loading smaller files would have less "overhead" or "memory issues" since the code wouldn't have to parse through a huge file each time it needed to find specific content.

Which do you think is better and why?