Static vs. Dynamic vs. Jamstack: Where's The Line?

Developers frequently discuss "static" versus "dynamic" websites, and the term Jamstack is also commonly used. What do these terms mean, and where's the dividing line between a "static" site and a Jamstack or dynamic site? These seemingly simple questions have nuanced answers. Let's delve into these concepts to better understand Jamstack.

Defining the Boundaries

Consider the difference between a chair and a stool. Most would say a chair has four legs and a back, while a stool has three legs and no back.

But what about designs that blur the lines?

The more chair-like a stool becomes, the less clear-cut the distinction. Eventually, most would agree it's a stool, not a chair. This seemingly trivial exercise highlights the importance of defining boundaries. It helps us understand the limits and gray areas. Ultimately, even staunch chair advocates would concede a point where the object is clearly a stool.

While chairs are interesting, this article focuses on website delivery technology. Let's apply the same exercise to static, dynamic, and Jamstack websites.

A High-Level Overview

When accessing a website, several behind-the-scenes processes occur:

1. Your browser performs a DNS lookup to translate the domain name into an IP address.
2. It requests an HTML file from that IP address.
3. The webserver returns the requested file.
4. During page rendering, the browser may encounter references to assets (CSS, JavaScript, images). It then requests these assets.
5. This cycle repeats until the browser has all necessary files. A single webpage often makes 50 requests.

Crucially, the webserver's response to every request is always a static file, even on a dynamic website. These files can be saved or shared like any other file.

The difference between static and dynamic websites lies in what the webserver does. In a static site, the requested files already exist; the server simply returns them. In a dynamic site, software generates the response. This might involve database queries, template processing, or adding timestamps. This generation happens for every request.

This is the fundamental distinction between static and dynamic websites.

Jamstack's Position

Static websites have limitations. While excellent for informational sites, they inherently lack dynamic content or behavior. Jamstack bridges the gap between static and dynamic. It leverages the advantages of static sites while enabling dynamic functionality where needed.

The "stack" in Jamstack is a misnomer. It's not a stack but a philosophy similar to the 5 Pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework. This ambiguity has sparked much discussion about its meaning.

Understanding Jamstack

Jamstack is a superset of static sites. To understand it, let's examine its origins.

In 2002, Aaron Swartz's blog post "Bake, Don't Fry" highlighted the benefits of static websites, challenging perceived limitations. He emphasized the advantages of simpler maintenance, easier backups, and platform independence.

Throughout history, similar frustrations fueled the development of Jamstack-related technologies:

• MovableType addressed performance and stability issues with existing blog CMSs.
• Jekyll aimed to simplify blogging, avoiding the complexity of WordPress and Mephisto.
• Hugo prioritized performance over content writing in its design.

Recurring themes in early Jamstack tools include reduced complexity, improved performance, reduced vendor lock-in, and better developer workflows.

Over the past two decades, JavaScript's evolution and the rise of microservices created a new approach: decoupling static front-ends from dynamic back-ends.

In 2015, Mathias Biilmann coined "Jamstack" to describe this modern approach, overcoming the limitations of the term "static website." This revitalized older static technologies and pushed them to new limits. The Jamstack approach's benefits led to its rapid growth.

Thirteen years before Jamstack, Aaron Swartz advocated for separating input (requiring dynamic processing) from output (which can be pre-rendered). This decoupling of front-end and back-end, with pre-rendering where possible and dynamic functionality layered on as needed, is the essence of Jamstack.

The advantages of Jamstack over dynamic sites stem from its six pillars:

Security

Fewer moving parts reduce the attack surface.

Scalability

Static content easily scales via CDNs.

Performance

CDN delivery significantly improves page load speed.

Maintainability

Static websites are inherently simpler to maintain.

Portability

Static sites are easily transferable between servers.

Developer Experience

Seamless integration with Git workflows.

Chris's comparison of Jamstack and WordPress, and his analysis in "Static or Not?", further explore these points.

Let's use these pillars to evaluate Jamstack use cases.

The Edges of Static and Jamstack

Having established the basics, let's examine the boundaries of each definition. We'll categorize edge cases into four groups:

• Strictly Static: Adheres completely to the definition of static.
• Mostly Static: While not perfectly static, most would consider it static.
• Jamstack: A static front-end decoupled from a dynamic back-end.
• Dynamic: Renders pages on-demand.

Many cases can fall into multiple categories; we'll use the most restrictive classification.

JavaScript Interaction

A static site with a JavaScript-powered image slideshow remains static; all interactions occur within the browser.

Cookies

A static site adding a banner based on cookies remains static.

External Assets

Loading images or JavaScript from a dynamic external source is generally considered static, though strictly speaking, it's not.

iFrames

Embedding content via iFrames (e.g., Google Maps) is usually considered static, despite the dynamic nature of the embedded content.

Forms

Forms on static sites become dynamic when data submission requires a back-end. The distinction depends on whether the form submission service is considered a core part of the website.

Ajax Requests

Ajax requests, especially to dynamic back-ends, push the site beyond static into Jamstack territory.

Embedded eCommerce

Services enabling eCommerce on static sites typically use Ajax requests, placing them in the Jamstack category.

Single Page Application (SPA)

SPAs, relying heavily on Ajax, are inherently dynamic and Jamstack.

Ajax Call to a Serverless Function

The type of back-end (serverless, Kubernetes, PHP) is less important than the decoupling of front-end and back-end; this is Jamstack.

Reverse Proxy

A reverse proxy doesn't inherently make a static site dynamic, as long as the file remains unchanged.

CDN

A CDN, acting as a reverse proxy, doesn't alter the static nature of the site.

CDN with Long Cache Expiration

A CDN in front of a dynamic site, even with a long cache, remains dynamic due to the initial on-demand generation and potential cache invalidation.

WordPress with Static Output

Using tools like WP2Static to generate static output from WordPress creates a static website.

Edge Computing

Edge functions can add headers (static) or manipulate HTML (dynamic), blurring the lines. Extensive HTML manipulation pushes it into the dynamic realm.

Distributed Persistent Rendering (DPR)

DPR, while improving Jamstack workflows, is essentially dynamic due to on-demand page generation.

Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)

Similar to DPR, ISR's on-demand page generation classifies it as dynamic.

Flat File CMS

Flat file CMSs, while eliminating databases, still dynamically render responses.

Conclusion

Examining these edge cases clarifies the boundaries of static and Jamstack. The goal isn't dogmatic adherence but understanding the trade-offs. A website might be primarily Jamstack with dynamic elements; this is perfectly acceptable. The closer to static, the better the performance, security, and scalability. This discussion is ongoing, and understanding the trade-offs is key.

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