The Complete Guide to JAMstack

Maybe you've already heard this word "JAMstack" in the web development, it's still rare, but the trend of building your website with jamstck rapidly go up. I am now creating cutting-edge, modular websites for our clients that are unquestionably better than traditional websites, particularly in terms of speed, security, and scalability. In this piece, I define "JAMstack" and discuss why it's critical to the future of web development.

Note: H.Y.Z portfolio is a JAMstack website, so you check the performance with google lighthouse. See the score from google lighthouse:

What is the jam stack?

The concept of a "JAMstack architecture" was first introduced in 2016 at the SmashingConf by Mathias Biilmann, the CEO of Netlify. The acronym "Jam" continued to stand for JavaScript, PIs, and Markdown. But in the interim, the phrase has evolved beyond its initial meaning and is no longer restricted to these three technologies.

In essence, the JAMstack is a fix for a number of issues that plague conventional websites. The precise design differs greatly. But the main focus is on gaining the many advantages of static websites. These often scale better, are faster, and are more secure. Modern JavaScript frameworks, such as React, Angular, Vue, or Svelte, as well as other cutting-edge tools like CDNs, Headless CMSs, or Static Site Generators are used by developers (at the end of this article you will find an explanation of terms).

How the JAMstack differs from traditional websites

How does JAMstack work, though? It is important to consider how this differs from traditional webpages. At first, all websites were static, meaning that only a web developer could alter the code to update the content. Rasmus Lerdorf didn't create a method to use PHP to display dynamic material until the middle of the 1990s. As a result, whenever a person sees a website, a request might be sent to a server or database. As a result, the website's content could now be modified without affecting the code directly. For instance, the most recent blog posts may always be pulled from the database and presented on both the overview page and the various detail pages of a blog like ours. Lerdorf also established the framework for Web 2.0 with this. Without dynamic content, platforms like Facebook, which show a personalised feed for each user, would not be possible. At that time, the so-called LAMP stack—Linux, Apache, MySQl, and PHP—was primarily utilised.

However, the capabilities of dynamic LAMP stack websites are currently being challenged. Because every time a user accesses dynamic content, a request to a server must first be made in order for that content to be created. The response to this request can take some time, depending on the server. The finished page is then created and sent using the response and the website's markup (HTML).

The JAMstack is different in that the webpages are developed beforehand (Build Time), rather than when a user clicks on the website ( Run Time ). A static site generator regularly gathers all content (from databases, CMSs, APIs, etc.), merges it with the HTML, and then uses it to create a static website. A CDN is then used to deliver this webpage. Such JAMstack websites are nearly always much faster than traditional LAMP stack sites since no additional requests must be made to any servers at run time.

Dynamic content in JAMstack architecture

JAMstack sites, however, go beyond the simple static sites that were popular in the 1990s. On the one hand, if content changes often, the Static Site Generator build process can be restarted. Normally, this procedure takes under a minute. That would obviously not be appropriate for a platform like Facebook. However, it is absolutely acceptable to just restart the build process whenever you post a new blog piece or someone makes a remark on a blog, for instance. In such circumstances, webhooks make it simple to have the build process automatically triggered.

JavaScript, on the other hand, also gives users the ability to runtime submits asynchronous queries to external APIs (AJAX) and show the results directly. This method can be used to give a lot of dynamic features. In addition, a well-developed ecosystem of so-called microservices enables this. For instance, Algolia's API allows you to integrate a live search feature and Stripe's payment processing into static websites. Simply click Serverless Functions to return to those provided by AWS, Netlify, or Vercel, for example, for more particular use cases. You can do this to create your own functions, save them in the cloud, and use an API to trigger them.

To sum up: With JAMstack websites, the frontend and backend are separated; a traditional backend with a separate server and database is no longer required. Instead, it incorporates material from a user-friendly headless CMS, a number of additional sources, and the markup/code on GitHub (or similar platforms). A static site generator then creates a complete, static website from this, which is subsequently supplied over a CDN. When a visitor visits the website later, specific dynamic material is AJAX-fetched from an API and, if necessary, supplied.

With Next.js and Gatsby.js starting with version 4, there is still a unique functionality.

These React frameworks make it feasible to have a hybrid architecture. While some subpages or components meant to be dynamic are rendered server-side, other subpages or components can be entirely static. Achieving the best of both worlds is thus achievable.

What are the advantages of the JAMstack?

Comparing the JAMstack to conventional websites, there are several benefits.

speed

You can only obtain the fastest possible speed for your website using the JAMstack. Additionally, there is no longer any need to travel to the server and return to Run Time. It is also possible to use a CDN to provide the static JAMstack webpage. Additionally, since there is no dedicated server to overwhelm, a sudden surge of users has no impact on speed.

Such a fast website brings much more other benefits:

• A greater conversion rate and lower bounce rates are directly and measurable results of a better user experience provided by faster loading times.
• Users consider websites that load quickly to be more advanced. a result that spreads to your brand.
• A quicker loading time has a favorable impact on the Core Web Vitals, which directly affects your website's SEO rating.
• Your Quality Score goes up since a quicker loading time improves the "user experience with the landing page" in Google Ads. Your ad rank is improved with a greater Quality Score at a cheaper CPC.

scalability

A JAMstack website, unlike a standard site, cannot abruptly experience a very significant surge in traffic, as was already indicated. A CDN is always made up of lots of edge servers. If one is unavailable, the subsequent one is just used. The JAMstack is also appropriate for websites that want to expand significantly in the future and may need to handle brief spikes in traffic. Your business has a TV appearance? You may take it easy with a JAMstack website.

environmentally friendly

3.7% of the world's glasshouse gas emissions are attributed to the Internet ( source ). A great method to lessen the amount of stuff that your business is responsible for is to convert to a static JAMstack website. One benefit of having a speedier website is that visitors will leave it sooner. Static pages, on the other hand, don't need any servers or databases, which are accessed with each page visit on traditional websites. This article has more information on the subject.

security

Without your own database or server that your website accesses directly, several attack vectors such as SQL injection or DDoS attacks are eliminated.

Do JAMstack have disadvantages?

Of course, there are some drawbacks to the JAMstack as well. The jam stack simply didn't make sense for some really dynamic web projects for a very long time. The performance benefit would quickly disappear if an excessive amount of stuff were to be sent asynchronously. A remedy for this is provided by the hybrid architecture of Next.js.

Additionally, the build time must always be taken into account. Depending on the size, this time can occasionally exceed a minute. For instance, it could take some time for a blog post to appear on your website after it has been published. The majority of headless CMSs contain preview features that attempt to circumvent this. These, however, have some restrictions. Real WYSIWYG editors are also not yet available for JAMstack websites.

Should you now switch to the JAMstack?

Given the obvious advantages, I believe that most websites should be required to use the JAMstack, or at the very least a hybrid architecture with Next.js. And the sooner you move, the better as only 1% of websites in 2020 were using the JAMstack (see graphic). In contrast, the share has increased by a factor of two since last year. Users will eventually grow accustomed to and start to expect a JAMstack website's speed.

You're probably familiar with the sensation of returning to an urban area after a lengthy trip on the motorway and realizing that 50 km/h feels like walking speed. This result is referred to as "adaptation." Your sense of speed has gotten used to the freeway's tempo, so returning to the city's tempo takes some getting used to.

When I leave a JAMstack website for a while and return to a regular website, I always get this impact. Actually, it feels awfully slow when pages load normally.

And for me, here is where your website has a lot of potential: Imagine that some of your potential consumers are evaluating other providers right now. They turn to your competitor's website, which still has a classic website, for comparison when they spend more time on your JAMstack website and get used to the speed. Your competitor's website will appear incredibly sluggish and out of date thanks to adaptation. The benefit is plain to see. Now, if you join the 1% of people using the JAMstack, it's likely that your website will be the only one in your business that can create that experience.

The proportion of JAMstack websites is increasing every year, but was only around 0.9% in 2020.[/caption]

Explanation of JAMstack terms

Here, I'll quickly clarify a few key terminologies related to the JAMstack. You can read about a term here if you're unfamiliar with it.

API

A software interface known as an application programming interface enables data exchange and communication with other programmes. So to speak, an API is a user interface, but it is one for other programmes rather than for users. The three most popular current API architectures are GraphQL, SOAP, and REST. You may now query external data or content using a huge variety of APIs to display it on your website. This ranges from simple APIs for E-commerce solutions or payment services like PayPal or Stripe to complex APIs for the Dog API, which returns random photos of dogs, and Weather APIs, which provide the current weather for a location.

PWA

PWAs are merely a hybrid form of a website and an app. JAMstack PWAs enable you to offer that app-like experience to the website through the user's web browser rather than requiring them to download your app. Users can even visit your app in offline, because PWA cache the necessary data in your mobile phone after you install the website.

Serverless

Because the most of JAMstack websites are statically generated by static site generator, hosting for these websites is inexpensive. Because the server only needs to deliver the website and doesn't need to process anything, it doesn't need a lot of processing power, that means serverless. Simply upload each of the created files to the server. Nothing can hinder speed if you use this approach along with a dependable CDN solution like Netlify.

CDN

A content delivery network is a network of servers that makes it possible to distribute material (such static websites) relatively quickly. When CDNs use edge computing, files are housed centrally on an origin server, but are then disseminated and cached to nearby servers, or edge nodes. These edge nodes should ideally be dispersed around the entire planet. Now, an edge node close to the user will serve the content when a user requests it. A static website hosted via a CDN can therefore be accessed from practically anywhere in the world with very fast loading speeds. Additionally, the failure of a single server is no longer problematic because another edge node can easily step in to assist. Among the most well-known CDNs are Cloudflare and Fastly. However, other cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Netlify, and Vercel all offer their own CDNs.

Headless CMS

An author can easily add content to a website using a CMS (Content Management System) without having any prior coding experience. Without constantly contacting a developer, an entrepreneur can easily post images or publish news on their website. The most well-known traditional content management systems (CMSs) are Shopify, Shopware, Magento, Drupal, Contao, and WordPress. These provide a complete front end on which the content is displayed in addition to managing the content. However, as mentioned here, there are a lot of drawbacks to such a monolithic website. Because of this, a lot of developers today rely on so-called headless CMSs, which are just concerned with organizing content. This content is not made available through a frontend but rather solely through an API. These headless CMSs include Contentful, Prismic, Sanity, Forestry, Strapi, or Ghost, to name a few. But as an alternative, many traditional CMSs can now also be utilized headlessly. For instance, we already used Headless WordPress to construct a larger Gatsby website. An overview of all the possibilities is available here.

Static Site Generator

The most crucial piece of equipment for the jam stack is undoubtedly a static site generator. This frequently (though not always) entails the use of a JavaScript framework that gathers website content from many sources, merges it with HTML, and then creates a static website from it. There are a many of SSGs, each with unique benefits and drawbacks. But for me I used to utilize Next.js as the SSG, in some conditions Next.js is more powerful than Gatsby.js.

Conclusion

H.Y.Z is the specialist in builing JAMstack architecture websites, whether for enterprise B2B website or for ecommerce online store, i will deliver you the best result. Have you interest in JAMstack, let's build your business for future.