What is the JAMStack?

JAM in JAMStack stands for: JavaScript API Markup. The JAMStack is a new way of building websites and apps that eliminates the need for running a web server. It uses tools such as Jekyll, Gatsby, Next, Hugo, or other static site generators. The JAMStack delivers pre-rendering files that come directly from a CDN and that is why it doesn’t require a web server to run.

Why is the JAMStack important for a developer?

The JAMStack is important in development for many reasons. The biggest ones are:

You get better performance since the files are pre-rendered and served over a CDN
There is higher sercurity because since there are no server-side processes, there is a smaller chance for attacks
It is cheaper because hosting static files is far cheaper than depending on a server
Developers have an easier experience because it is more focused on the front-end and easier to debug

How can someone use the JAMStack?

Using the JAMStack is straighforward and easy even for someone like me who was just introduced to it 2 days ago. It is as simple as installing Ruby and a tool like Jekyll with a template that is already built in, and there you go. You have a site. However, you’re not just limited to the template given to you by Jekyll, you can hand code it if you want, you use other tools like Gatsby, Next.js, or Hugo, and you can even use frontend frameworks like React and Vue. Other templates are easy to look up and implement into your site as well.

What tools did I use?

For my blog, I decided to go the easy route to begin with and I will try new things as I move forward. I used Ruby and Jekyll to deploy my site and just used the default template, minima, for my template.

Why I chose these tools?

I chose these tools because they are the most straightforward from what I had reasearched and heard from others. I want to understand these tools first, and then move on to others.