Pure HTML pages are the fastest website around. However, server-side scripting languages enable richer functionality. Static sites solve this problem by providing the best of both worlds. Static sites are

• Cheap
• Easy to use
• Fast

On the other hand, complex functionality can be a bit more limited and time consuming to implement.

Two examples of static sites in action are SSW People and SSW Rules.

There are a few hosting options to choose from including:

• Azure static web apps (recommended)
• Cloud Flare
• GitHub Pages
• Surge.sh

There are also many different static site generators:

• Gatsby (recommended)

  • React based
  • Lots of plugins
  • Data handling via GraphQL
  • Works natively with GitHub as a Datasource.

• Jekyll

  • Liquid based (Shopify’s templating language)
  • Simple to setup
  • Out of the box integration with GitHub pages
  • Scales poorly
  • Windows is not supported

• Next.js

  • React based
  • Server-side rendered pages but can be exported as a static site
  • Provides full control over which data handling technology you use
  • More scalable than conventional static site generators