Static Site Generation (SSG)
Static Site Generation (SSG) is a modern web development approach where the entire website is pre-built into static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files at build time, instead of generating pages dynamically on every user request (runtime).
1. How SSG Works
- Input: The developer provides source data (Markdown files, APIs, databases) and templates (using frameworks like Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit).
- Build: A static site generator tool compiles this data and the templates into a complete set of static assets (HTML pages).
- Deploy: These static files are deployed to a server or, ideally, a CDN (Content Delivery Network) for global delivery.
2. Advantages of SSG
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Performance | Pages load instantly because the server simply sends a ready-made HTML file, resulting in excellent user experience. |
| Security | Since there is no database or server-side logic running at runtime, the attack surface is minimized. |
| Scalability | Handling traffic surges is easy as you are only serving static files from a robust CDN. |
| SEO | Search engine crawlers prefer pre-rendered HTML, as it allows for easy indexing and higher rankings. |
3. Common Use Cases
- Blogs and Documentation: Content changes infrequently.
- Marketing and Landing Pages.
- E-commerce Product Pages (when combined with incremental regeneration).
Note: SSG contrasts with SSR (Server-Side Rendering), where pages are rendered by the server on the fly for every request.