What is a Static Site Generator?

Exploring the Concept of Static Websites

Before we get into static site generators, let’s first understand a static site. Static sites aren’t created on the server. Instead, they’re pre-rendered and delivered directly to the user’s web browser. This approach has several benefits, including faster loading times, better security, and easier scalability.

A static site generator (SSG) is a web development tool that helps you create static websites. A static website is a website that doesn’t look like a static page. Instead, it looks like a static HTML page.

SSGs combine content from different sources (e.g. Markdown files, APIs, etc.) with templates. This way, you don’t have to worry about server-side processing and databases. Instead, you can create leaner, faster websites.

How Do Static Site Generators Work?

SSG takes your content and templates into a fully static website. This includes converting your content files to HTML pages, stylesheets, scripts, and asset optimisation for delivery. All in all, you get a fully functioning static website that you can deploy to any website or hosting.

Advantages of Static Site Generators

• Speed: Static sites load faster, resulting in a smoother user experience and higher search engine rankings.
• Security: Static sites don’t have any server-side features, which makes them less susceptible to attacks and data breaches.
• Scalability: Static sites are easy to cache and share across CDNs, making them available to users all over the world quickly and reliably.
• Simplicity: Static site generators make the development process easier by separating the content from the presentation, making it easier to work with others and keep the website up-to-date.

There are many great Static Site Generators (SSGs) out there, and each one has its unique strengths and features. Let’s explore some of the best SSG’s for your project:

Jekyll

• Official website: https://jekyllrb.com/
• Language: Ruby
• License: MIT read
• Templates: Liquid
• GitHub stars: 48k
• GitHub forks: 9.8k

Ruby-based Jekyll is one of the most popular among developers due to its simplicity and user-friendliness. Jekyll is great for blogging and personal websites due to its easy-to-use Markdown capabilities and native blogging capabilities.

Key Features:

• Jekyll is easy to use: The easy-to-use interface and easy-to-read documentation make it a great option for beginners.
• Beginner-friendly: Jekyll’s user-friendly interface and easy-to-read documentation make it a great option for beginners.
• Large community: Jekyll provides a wide range of themes and plugins, thanks to its active user and contributor community.
• GitHub integration: With Jekyll’s near-perfect compatibility with GitHub Pages, you can deploy directly from a repository on GitHub.

Hugo

• Official website: https://gohugo.io/
• Language: Go
• License: Apache-2.0
• Templates: Go
• GitHub stars: 71.7k
• GitHub forks: 7.3k

Hugo is written in Go and is well-known for its speed and efficiency. Whether you’re building an easy-to-implement blog or a complicated e-commerce website, Hugo’s fast compilation ensures fast development without sacrificing quality.

Key Features:

• Blazing-fast performance: Hugo’s Go-based architecture allows for blazing-fast website creation, making it ideal for large-scale deployments.
• Extensive theme library: Hugo offers a wide range of themes to meet different design needs and use cases.
• Flexible content organization: With built-in taxonomies and custom content types, Hugo provides unbeatable scalability in organizing your site’s content.

Gatsby

• Official website: http://gatsbyjs.org/
• Language: JavaScript
• License: MIT
• Templates: React
• GitHub stars: 55k
• GitHub forks: 10.4k

Gatsby is a JavaScript-based static site generator built on React.js. It’s well-known for its lightning-fast, dynamic website-building capabilities. Whether you’re building a blog, portfolio, or even an e-commerce platform, you can use Gatsby to build highly interactive, high-performance websites. Gatsby’s plug-in to GraphQL and the React ecosystem allows developers to build high-performance, interactive websites.

Key Features:

• React-powered: Gatsby uses React.js to make it easy for developers to create interactive and dynamic websites.
• GraphQL integration: Gatsby integrates seamlessly with GraphQL to provide fast query and data handling for dynamic content.
• Progressive Web App (PWA) support: Gatsby’s PWA features enable native app-like features, such as offline access and push notifications.
• Rich ecosystem: With a wide variety of plugins and starters, Gatsby’s ecosystem gives developers the ability to expand features and get projects up and running fast.

Next.js

• Official website: https://nextjs.org/
• Language: JavaScript
• License: MIT
• Templates: React
• GitHub stars: 119k
• GitHub forks: 25.4k

Next.js is also a JavaScript and React-based solution for static site generation, but it supports server-side rendering as well. Next.js supports TypeScript as well as incremental static regeneration, making it an ideal choice for creating high-performance web apps and websites.

Key Features:

• Server-side rendering (SSR): Next.js supports server-side rendering, improving performance and SEO.
• Hybrid static/dynamic approach: Next.js supports static site generation as well as server-side rendering.
• TypeScript support: Next.js supports TypeScript with strong type safety support and scalability for bigger projects.
• Incremental static regeneration: Next.js adds the ability to incrementally regenerate static content. This allows for dynamic content updates without compromising performance.

Jekyll is a Ruby-based SSG, while Hugo is a Go-based SSG. Gatsby is a JavaScript/React SSG. Each SSG should be evaluated based on the expertise of your team, your project needs, and your long-term objectives.