An Introduction to Static Site Generators for Drupalists and Static Site Show and Tell

Brian Perry, Bounteous

With the continued rise of static site generators that can play nicely with Drupal it has never been easier to take advantage of the speed, security, and scalability of static sites. But for those comfortable working with Drupal it may be difficult to identify the projects that would benefit from a static site build, and also to determine which of the many static site generator options are right for you.

This session aims to provide an overview of the static site generator landscape from a Drupal perspective, including:

What exactly is a static site generator, and why would I use one with Drupal?
Navigating potential roadblocks to a static site build
Approaches to triggering automatic builds based on content updates.
We'll also briefly compare three static site generator projects - Jekyll (a Ruby based option), Gatsby (a React based option) and Tome (a Drupal based option), focusing on:

How they differ
How they interface with Drupal
Why you might choose one over the other
Recommended next steps to learn more
By the conclusion of this talk you will have a better understanding of why a static site build may or may not be right for your project, have a better feel for which static site generator would fit your workflow, and may even walk away with some existential questions about the overall nature of dynamic content on the web (heavy, right?)

Speakers
Brian Perry
Lead Front End Developer @ Bounteous
Brian is a versatile developer with experience building complex, interactive web applications in support of large-scale localized sites. Recently he has focused his efforts on evolving Drupal front-end development practices, decoupled Drupal, and style guide development techniques and has spoken on the topic at various Drupal events. Brian is a Drupal 7 and Drupal 8 Acquia Certified Grand Master and loves all things Nintendo.

https://www.midcamp.org/2019/topic-proposal/introduction-static-site-generators-drupalists-and-static-site-show-and-tell

Drupal is a registered trademark of Dries Buytaert.