The Jamstack Agency is a game-changer for modern web development. By leveraging a JAMstack architecture, agencies can deliver faster, more secure, and scalable websites.
With a JAMstack, agencies can build websites that are pre-rendered at build time, resulting in faster page loads and improved SEO. This approach also reduces the risk of common web vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
Agencies can also take advantage of the scalability of cloud hosting, which allows websites to handle large amounts of traffic without breaking a sweat. This means that agencies can focus on creating amazing user experiences, rather than worrying about server crashes.
By embracing the JAMstack, agencies can unlock the full potential of modern web development and deliver exceptional results for their clients.
What Is the
The Jamstack is an architecture where a website is delivered statically, but provides dynamic content and an interactive experience through JavaScript.
It all started with a need to get past the negative stigma associated with the word "static", and the term Jamstack was born.
The Jamstack represents the JAM in a website: JavaScript, APIs, and Markup, which are still the core concepts of modern web app development.
We still depend on Markup to deliver a website or application, and optionally use JavaScript and APIs to enhance the experience.
The Jamstack is more of an architecture than a traditional "stack", providing a foundation and set of principles for building web applications.
Benefits and Advantages
The Jamstack offers numerous benefits and advantages that make it an attractive choice for web development. It's fast, reliable, scalable, and usually pretty cheap. Jamstack web apps are designed to deliver an app from a static hosting platform, which limits the number of moving pieces required to deliver that app.
Out of the box, Jamstack sites hit all of the 5 AWS Well-Architected pillars, which means they're more secure and reliable. They're also infinitely scalable, suffering from less downtime.
Here are some of the key benefits of the Jamstack:
- Speed: Jamstack sites render and load more quickly than sites that use monolithic architectures.
- Hosting flexibility: Jamstack sites can be hosted anywhere, using traditional web server software or object storage services and content delivery networks.
- Improved developer experience: Frontend developers can build sites without needing to know a server-side language, and backend developers can focus on building APIs.
- Better security: Jamstack sites are not vulnerable to SQL injection or server-side code injection attacks, and pages are compiled in advance to prevent server-side includes injection attacks.
The Jamstack also offers a great developer experience, allowing developers to build sites quickly and easily. Frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby allow you to build a new web app in just 1 minute, and you can deploy it to Netlify or Vercel in an additional minute.
How it Works
As a Jamstack agency, we're excited to dive into how our projects work. Unlike large legacy apps, Jamstack projects neatly separate the frontend pages and UI from the backend apps and databases.
This separation allows the frontend to be deployed globally, directly to a CDN. This means our websites can reach a wider audience, faster.
Before deployment, the entire frontend is prebuilt into highly optimized static pages and assets. This happens in a build process, before being deployed or hosted.
The global frontend uses JavaScript and APIs to talk to backend services, allowing pages to be enhanced and personalized. This seamless communication enables our websites to adapt to different user interactions and preferences.
Infrastructure and Tools
As a Jamstack agency, we believe in leveraging the right infrastructure and tools to bring our projects to life. We use CI/CD BuildNetlify Build for automating our build process.
Our infrastructure is robust, thanks to Global HostingNetlify Edge, which enables us to host our applications globally.
When it comes to deploying our projects, we have a range of options available to us. Some of the hosting and deployment options we use include:
- AWS S3 & Cloudfront
- Azure Static Web Apps
- Begin
- Cloudflare Pages
- Netlify
- Render
- Vercel
Tools for the
Tools for the Jamstack world are incredibly diverse and flexible. There are many options available for static site generators, including Gatsby, Next.js, Gridsome, Scully, and SvelteKit.
These tools provide the ability to more easily manage content and render pages out to static files. This typically allows you to provide a faster web app.
Static site generators like 11ty, Hugo, Jekyll, and Astro are also widely used. They help developers build applications with modular components and render to HTML with JavaScript.
Here are some popular UI frameworks used in the Jamstack world:
- Angular
- React
- Svelte
- Vue
The Jamstack also relies on hosting and deployment tools like Netlify, Vercel, AWS S3 & Cloudfront, Azure Static Web Apps, Begin, Cloudflare Pages, Render, and more. These tools make it easy to deploy and manage static sites.
Infrastructure
Our infrastructure is built on solid foundations, and here's a rundown of the key components. We use a CI/CD pipeline to ensure smooth deployment and testing.
Netlify Build is our go-to tool for automating the build process, making it efficient and reliable. This means we can focus on coding and not worry about the nitty-gritty details.
For global hosting, we leverage Netlify Edge, which provides a robust and scalable solution for serving our applications. This allows us to reach a wider audience without breaking a sweat.
Here's a quick overview of our infrastructure:
- CI/CD pipeline: Netlify Build
- Global hosting: Netlify Edge
APIs
APIs have come a long way since their inception in 2000, evolving to fit the changing needs of web development.
Initially, APIs were only meant to be consumed by server-side applications, but with the development of new JavaScript standards, web APIs became available to any JavaScript client running in a browser.
This shift enabled the server to offload heavy lifting to the client-side with JavaScript, making it easier to build Jamstack sites.
With web APIs, you can use best-of-breed solutions and services instead of being limited by your current system.
APIs have become a key component of the Jamstack architecture, allowing for microservices that serve specific functions independently but seamlessly integrate with other services.
The flexibility of web APIs means you can connect to the frontend of your choice, using open RESTful APIs and GraphQL.
Umbraco Heartcore, the official headless CMS, takes advantage of this flexibility with its managed and hosted SaaS solution.
As a result, you don't have to worry about maintaining another codebase or API, thanks to Cloudflare CDN and a managed API.
Modern Architecture
The Jamstack agency is built on a modern architecture that's a departure from traditional website development methods. This architecture is centered around JavaScript, APIs, and HTML markup, hence the "Jam" in Jamstack.
This approach decouples the frontend and backend, allowing for more modular development and a better developer experience. With Jamstack, frontend developers can build sites without needing to know a server-side language, while backend developers can focus on building APIs.
The Jamstack architecture is designed to be performant, with static sites that can be hosted anywhere, including object storage services and content delivery networks. This flexibility in hosting options makes Jamstack sites more secure and faster to load, with fewer server requests and better performance.
Here are some of the key hosting and deployment options available for developers:
- AWS S3 & Cloudfront
- Azure Static Web Apps
- Begin
- Cloudflare Pages
- Netlify
- Render
- Vercel
Architecture Overview
A Jamstack architecture is a modern approach to building websites and applications. It's centered around three key components: JavaScript, APIs, and HTML markup.
The Jamstack decouples the frontend and backend, allowing for more modular development. This means that frontend developers can build sites without needing to know a server-side language, and backend developers can focus on building APIs.
In a traditional architecture, content is stored in a database and a presentation layer of template files mixes HTML markup with template tags. A software layer then pulls it all together, regenerating a single page each time the server receives a request.
In contrast, a Jamstack frontend consists of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, generated during the build process. A Jamstack backend is a content API that returns JSON or XML, serving data to the frontend.
Here are the three core parts of a Jamstack architecture:
- JavaScript as the universal runtime layer in the browser to add extra functionality and dynamic behavior.
- APIs to replace the database and fetch everything you need directly from the services required.
- Markup to serve the actual website content and HTML needed.
This approach enables faster load times, improved security, and reduced maintenance. With a Jamstack architecture, you can host your site using an object storage service and a content delivery network (or CDN), making it possible to deploy sites globally.
Building a Frontend App
Building a frontend app is where the magic happens. You can use UI-focused frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte to build applications with modular components.
These frameworks help developers create a better experience for users. They render to HTML with JavaScript right in the browser, making it easier to build interactions and serve dynamic content.
You can also use static site generators and web frameworks like Gatsby, Next.js, Gridsome, Scully, and SvelteKit to manage content and render pages out to static files. This allows you to serve the entire rendered experience to the browser straight from the HTML.
Some popular UI frameworks include Angular, React, Svelte, and Vue. These frameworks are powerful tools for building interactive web applications.
Here are some popular static site generators and web frameworks:
By using these frameworks and generators, you can build a fast and interactive frontend app that provides a great user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Jamstack do?
The Jamstack makes the web faster, more secure, and easier to scale by leveraging developer-friendly tools and workflows. It boosts productivity and performance for web development.
Is Gatsby Jamstack?
Yes, Gatsby is a Jamstack technology that enables fast and efficient website rendering. By leveraging the Jamstack architecture, Gatsby sites can load quickly and provide a seamless user experience.
Is Jamstack the future?
The Jamstack is a promising framework that could shape the future of web development, particularly for static content and e-commerce applications. Its long-term benefits make it an exciting prospect for modern websites and SaaS applications.
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