Some of the key differences between full and partial pages include:
In almost all cases partial pages will be linked to from full pages. The partial pages represent a part of the full page.
Each partial page has an integrated server controller because a partial page requires a call to something to enable a refresh of the part of the full page that it is dealing with. You can access the controller details from the right hand panel of the Application Map tab. The rest of the development process is very similar to the process for developing full pages.
You may notice that the partial page previews do not show the skin of the application. This simply denotes that this partial page is part of a full page, which itself is governed by the skin.
In order to make an asynchronous call to the server from a partial page, you have to use the AJAX submission option within the Event Options section of the Field Details tab. Against this submission type you will notice the need to provide a Target Group as well as a Source Type. The target group represents the area of the screen that will be refreshed with the response from the server. You should ensure that you have a suitable container group to receive the response of the AJAX Submission. You will also notice a Source Type option. This allows you to submit a part of the full page as the request or the full page if this is more appropriate.