Forgetful Notes

Static Site Generators

Static Site Generators (SSGs) are applications that take your content, apply it to templates, and generate a set of purely static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. These files can then be served directly from a web server or a Content Delivery Network (CDN), resulting in websites that are incredibly fast, secure, and simple to host.

Info

SSGs are a core component of the Jamstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) architecture, which aims to make the web faster, more secure, and easier to scale.

Core Philosophy

The fundamental idea behind SSGs is to do as much work as possible at build time, rather than request time.

  • Performance: Since the HTML is pre-built, there is no server-side processing or database query needed to serve a page.
  • Security: With no database or complex server-side logic to attack, the surface area for vulnerabilities is dramatically reduced.
  • Simplicity: Hosting is as simple as placing files on a server. This also makes deployment and versioning straightforward with tools like Git.

How They Work

The typical SSG workflow is:

  1. Content Creation: You write content in a markup language like Markdown.
  2. Templating: You create reusable templates (e.g., for headers, footers, page layouts) using a templating engine.
  3. Build Process: You run the SSG’s build command. It reads the content, processes it through the templates, and generates the final static site.
  4. Deployment: You deploy the resulting public or dist folder to a web host.

The SSG ecosystem is vast, with options available for many different programming languages and use cases.

  • Next.js: A React framework that excels at static and server-rendered applications.
  • Hugo: Written in Go, known for its incredible build speed.
  • Eleventy (11ty): A simpler, flexible generator written in JavaScript.
  • Jekyll: One of the originals, written in Ruby and powers GitHub Pages.
  • Zola: A fast and flexible SSG written in Rust.

Common Use Cases

SSGs are an excellent choice for content-driven websites, such as:

  • Blogs and personal websites
  • Documentation sites
  • Marketing and brochure websites
  • Portfolios

While they were traditionally used for sites with content that changes infrequently, modern SSGs combined with CI/CD and webhooks can now handle dynamic data and frequent updates, making them suitable for a wider range of applications.

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