Static Site Generation

Static Site Generation (SSG) is a web development approach where HTML pages are pre-built at compile time, rather than being generated on-demand for each user request. It involves creating static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files from templates and data sources, which are then served directly to users from a CDN or web server. This results in fast, secure, and highly scalable websites, as the server does not need to process dynamic content for each visit.

Also known as: Dynamic Site Generation, Pre-rendering, Build-time Generation, SSG, Static Generation

Why learn Static Site Generation?

Developers should use Static Site Generation for content-heavy websites like blogs, documentation sites, marketing pages, and e-commerce catalogs where content changes infrequently. It improves performance by eliminating server-side processing delays, enhances security by reducing attack surfaces, and reduces hosting costs due to efficient CDN delivery. SSG is ideal for projects prioritizing speed, SEO, and reliability over real-time interactivity.

Learning Resources

• docs: Next.js Documentation: Static Generation
• tutorial: JAMstack: What It Is and How to Get Started
• tutorial: Gatsby Tutorial: Building with Static Site Generation
• video: Static Site Generators - Full Course for Beginners
• book: Modern Web Development with Static Sites