What is a Static Site Generator?
A static site generator (SSG) is a tool that generates a complete static HTML website from templates, content files, and data at build time. The pre-built HTML pages can then be served directly by any web server or static hosting platform without server-side processing.
How Does Static Site Generator Work?
Static site generators work by combining content (usually written in Markdown or stored in a headless CMS) with templates to produce complete HTML pages during a build step. Popular SSGs include Hugo (Go), Jekyll (Ruby), Gatsby (React), Next.js (React), Astro, and Eleventy. Each build produces a folder of static files that can be deployed to any hosting provider.
The benefits of static site generators include blazing-fast performance since pages are pre-built, excellent security since there is no server-side code or database to exploit, easy and inexpensive hosting on static platforms, and straightforward version control since content can be stored in Git. Modern SSGs support features that were once exclusive to dynamic sites, including client-side interactivity, API integration, and incremental builds for large sites.
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