The web is constantly evolving, constantly changing. New tech and best practices are constantly developed, and keeping up with them could be a job of it’s own.

The days of developing dynamic websites using Wordpress, Drupal and the like are on a steady decline, and will soon begin fading into obscurity, as more modern approaches are evolving past the capabilities of their predecessors. The JAMStack is one such approach - A modern web development architecture based on client-side JavaScript, reusable APIs, and prebuilt Markup. This is my chosen approach which uses JavaScript libraries such as React, paired with Static Site Generators (such as gatsby.js or next.js) and APIs, local markdown files and/or a headless CMS to provide content.

JAMStack is my jam!

Don’t let the name fool you; while the nomenclature of a Static Site Generator suggests the site has to be static, nothing could be further from the truth! Headless CMS services such as DatoCMS, Prismic.io and Contentful, provide the ability to create content models, coupled with intuitive interfaces for anyone of any skill level to create and update the content from which the site is generated. Serverless functions from Firebase and AWS Lambda allow for the flexibility of dynamic content and functions as well as user authentication. Including a database such as Firestore or mongoDB in your website or Progressive Web App, is also a simple task.

Considering the above, this approach is highly advantageous in the flexibity of content, the performance, the security and sclability of any website or PWA, creating the best possible experience for the developer, the content creators, and most importantly, the user.