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Creator here, happy to answer any questions. Here's why I built this. JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) is fundamentally reshaping the web. Coined by Net

by leerob 7y ago

Creator here, happy to answer any questions. Here's why I built this. JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) is fundamentally reshaping the web. Coined by Netlify's co-founder, JAMstack bridges the gap between static and dynamic websites. Capitalize on static site performance, security, and scalability while still having dynamic data. I've seen this first-hand, building many JAMstacks sites myself. As a front-end developer, it was always challenging to find good examples of serverless functions. I'd usually have to dive through documentation, search StackOverflow, and ask questions on GitHub. They might have code but never had complete instructions for set up. JAMstack Functions is a directory of the best serverless functions for JAMstack applications. Each function includes code for both Vercel (Next.js) and Netlify Functions, as well as instructions for setting up. Quickly deploy the function to your static site and start building. Let me know which functions you'd like to see added.

Nicksil 7y ago
>JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) is fundamentally reshaping the web. How? "fundamentally reshaping the web" is a bold claim; how are those things reshaping the Web -- what's changing shape?
- winrid 7y ago
  It's not, in my opinion. Just something old - simple generated static site with sprinkle of {{currentJSFramework}}, a CDN, and some fancy marketing.
  - leerob 7y ago
    What's your opinion on a more full-featured framework like RedwoodJS or Blitz then? https://redwoodjs.com/ https://redwoodjs.com/ https://blitzjs.com/ https://blitzjs.com/
    - winrid 7y ago
      So these are frameworks that generate static sites?
      - leerob 7y ago
        Yes.
        winrid 7y ago
        They seem nice, however I don't know of many projects I've worked on where you could do this. Usually state is mutable. One that might apply had around 20 million pages, but it still ran on two m2.micros just fine and was dynamic.
- leerob 7y ago
  Static sites have evolved. Today, they can handle real-time requests, process payments, manage customer accounts, and a lot more. Some other benefits: * Cheaper – Not making requests to the server on-demand * Faster – Served from a global CDN close to your users * Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX How is this reshaping the web? In a way, we've come full circle. What's changing is how we get to a static site. JAMstack unlocks all the benefits of static sites with today's complex data requirements.
  - nogabebop23 7y ago
    >> Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX I'm a big fan in many use-cases, but this one is overstated IMO. Yes, your "site" is essentially a bunch of static pages but in order to do all that fancy stuff that the JA-part is selling you now have a massive deployment challenge that's just as prone to the same problems as the distributed monolith. The big win IMO is moving runtime concerns to build-time. There are a surprising number of scenarios where the backing data changes on predictable, not-that-frequent basis. For example, it is far easier to publish a product catalog based on some internal system via a static generator than some sort of real-time link. There are lots of cool use-cases but JAM is not reshaping the web in any structural way, at least if you've been programming it for more than 5-10 years...
    - leerob 7y ago
      Fair points – "reshaping the web" was a probably bit overzealous.
  - Nicksil 7y ago
    I'm still not quite there. >real-time requests What's this mean? If you're describing the ability to transfer the web site's data whenever a request comes in for that data, that's been the case since day 1. Alternatively, if you're describing the ability to make changes on the fly and re-draw the web site without a full request/response cycle, is it still a static web site? >process payments This really doesn't count though, does it? After all, the processing is occurring elsewhere: a third-party payment service or somewhere within the infrastructure behind the web site. It's more-or-less sending a request to some place else to process a transaction. >manage customer accounts This is similar to the previous. There's not a whole lot new going on here; you'll have to expand. >Cheaper – Not making requests to the server on-demand I don't understand how not making a request is intrinsic to any type of web site. >Faster – Served from a global CDN close to your users This just describes the location of the data; nothing to do with the web site. >Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX Now this might have some merit to it. Over the course of time, technology evolves and tasks which were more complex 10 years ago may seem trivial today; the technology you're describing could indeed be one of the choices available today. >How is this reshaping the web? In a way, we've come full circle. What's changing is how we get to a static site. JAMstack unlocks all the benefits of static sites with today's complex data requirements. Come full circle to what? We also haven't changed how we get to a static web site; a client calls a server and the server might respond with some data. I would navigate to your website the same exact way I would have 10, 15, ... years ago.
benatkin 7y ago
JAMstack is an odd term. LAMP is a stack. It's Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. JAM at most is a kind of stack, and a vague one. When using JavaScript to build web apps it's assumed markup will be involved. Perhaps including "Markup" implies SSR? I don't get it. JAM is a fun word though. Maybe that's why it took off, just like AJAX. I do like Vercel, though.
- leerob 7y ago
  I say JAMstack because saying "static sites" causes a lot of confusion. It's easy to hear static and think vanilla HTML with no backing data source. JAMstack, to me, is a better explanation for a static site generated by dynamic data.
mike503 7y ago
Just FYI spelling error: https://jamstackfns.com/f/mailgun https://jamstackfns.com/f/mailgun at the bottom "environment" is spelled wrong. :)

by leerob 7y ago

Nicksil 7y ago

>JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) is fundamentally reshaping the web. How? "fundamentally reshaping the web" is a bold claim; how are those things reshaping the Web -- what's changing shape?

winrid 7y ago
It's not, in my opinion. Just something old - simple generated static site with sprinkle of {{currentJSFramework}}, a CDN, and some fancy marketing.
- leerob 7y ago
  What's your opinion on a more full-featured framework like RedwoodJS or Blitz then? https://redwoodjs.com/ https://redwoodjs.com/ https://blitzjs.com/ https://blitzjs.com/
  - winrid 7y ago
    So these are frameworks that generate static sites?
    - leerob 7y ago
      Yes.
      - winrid 7y ago
        They seem nice, however I don't know of many projects I've worked on where you could do this. Usually state is mutable. One that might apply had around 20 million pages, but it still ran on two m2.micros just fine and was dynamic.
leerob 7y ago
Static sites have evolved. Today, they can handle real-time requests, process payments, manage customer accounts, and a lot more. Some other benefits: * Cheaper – Not making requests to the server on-demand * Faster – Served from a global CDN close to your users * Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX How is this reshaping the web? In a way, we've come full circle. What's changing is how we get to a static site. JAMstack unlocks all the benefits of static sites with today's complex data requirements.
- nogabebop23 7y ago
  >> Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX I'm a big fan in many use-cases, but this one is overstated IMO. Yes, your "site" is essentially a bunch of static pages but in order to do all that fancy stuff that the JA-part is selling you now have a massive deployment challenge that's just as prone to the same problems as the distributed monolith. The big win IMO is moving runtime concerns to build-time. There are a surprising number of scenarios where the backing data changes on predictable, not-that-frequent basis. For example, it is far easier to publish a product catalog based on some internal system via a static generator than some sort of real-time link. There are lots of cool use-cases but JAM is not reshaping the web in any structural way, at least if you've been programming it for more than 5-10 years...
  - leerob 7y ago
    Fair points – "reshaping the web" was a probably bit overzealous.
- Nicksil 7y ago
  I'm still not quite there. >real-time requests What's this mean? If you're describing the ability to transfer the web site's data whenever a request comes in for that data, that's been the case since day 1. Alternatively, if you're describing the ability to make changes on the fly and re-draw the web site without a full request/response cycle, is it still a static web site? >process payments This really doesn't count though, does it? After all, the processing is occurring elsewhere: a third-party payment service or somewhere within the infrastructure behind the web site. It's more-or-less sending a request to some place else to process a transaction. >manage customer accounts This is similar to the previous. There's not a whole lot new going on here; you'll have to expand. >Cheaper – Not making requests to the server on-demand I don't understand how not making a request is intrinsic to any type of web site. >Faster – Served from a global CDN close to your users This just describes the location of the data; nothing to do with the web site. >Easier – No complicated deployments, better DX Now this might have some merit to it. Over the course of time, technology evolves and tasks which were more complex 10 years ago may seem trivial today; the technology you're describing could indeed be one of the choices available today. >How is this reshaping the web? In a way, we've come full circle. What's changing is how we get to a static site. JAMstack unlocks all the benefits of static sites with today's complex data requirements. Come full circle to what? We also haven't changed how we get to a static web site; a client calls a server and the server might respond with some data. I would navigate to your website the same exact way I would have 10, 15, ... years ago.

benatkin 7y ago

JAMstack is an odd term. LAMP is a stack. It's Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. JAM at most is a kind of stack, and a vague one. When using JavaScript to build web apps it's assumed markup will be involved. Perhaps including "Markup" implies SSR? I don't get it. JAM is a fun word though. Maybe that's why it took off, just like AJAX. I do like Vercel, though.

leerob 7y ago
I say JAMstack because saying "static sites" causes a lot of confusion. It's easy to hear static and think vanilla HTML with no backing data source. JAMstack, to me, is a better explanation for a static site generated by dynamic data.

mike503 7y ago

Just FYI spelling error: https://jamstackfns.com/f/mailgun https://jamstackfns.com/f/mailgun at the bottom "environment" is spelled wrong. :)