Static Site Generator
A Static Site Generator (SSG) is a tool that builds static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files from source files like Markdown, templates, and data, without requiring a server-side runtime during deployment. It pre-renders content at build time, resulting in fast, secure, and scalable websites that can be hosted on simple services like GitHub Pages or Netlify. Common examples include Jekyll, Hugo, and Next.js in static export mode.
Developers should use static site generators when building content-heavy websites like blogs, documentation, portfolios, or marketing pages where content changes infrequently and performance is critical. They are ideal for projects needing high security (no server-side vulnerabilities), low hosting costs, and easy deployment, as they eliminate database queries and server processing, making sites load quickly and handle high traffic efficiently.