09 Feb 2024
Static site generation in web development is a process where web pages are pre-built and served to users as static files, typically HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, without the need for server-side processing at request time. This is in contrast to dynamic websites, which generate content dynamically on the server in response to each request.
In static site generation:
-
Content Generation: Content is typically authored in markup languages like Markdown or HTML, and assets like images and videos are prepared beforehand.
-
Build Process: A static site generator tool processes the content, templates, and assets to generate a complete website.
-
Pre-rendered Pages: Each page of the website is pre-rendered during the build process. This means that the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for each page are generated ahead of time and stored as static files.
-
Deployment: Once the site is generated, the static files can be deployed to a web server or content delivery network (CDN).
Benefits of static site generation include:
- Performance: Static sites load quickly since there's no need for server-side processing.
- Security: With no server-side code execution, the attack surface is reduced.
- Scalability: Static sites can handle high traffic loads since they can be served from a CDN.
- Simplicity: Static sites are easier to host and maintain compared to dynamic sites.
Popular static site generators include Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby, Next.js, and Nuxt.js. They offer various features and flexibility for developers to build different types of static websites, from simple blogs to complex web applications.
