Static site generators are like Netflix series.
Just when you thought you’d seen them all, you find another one.
And they all look great!
Listen, I’m not complaining here. We have lots of fun trying them out! And that’s what I’m here to do, once again.
The SSG on the menu today? 11ty (or Eleventy) an up-and-coming JavaScript static site generator.
But let’s get more familiar with 11ty first.
What is Eleventy?
Well, that picture kind of burned my line, but still:
Eleventy is simple static site generator written in JavaScript.
You may not have heard of it yet, mostly due to its young age. It was released at the dawn of 2018 but is quickly making a name for itself on the SSG scene.
800 & counting GitHub stars in less than a year! [Source]
How does this little wonder work? Simply by transforming a directory of templates of varying types into HTML. Eleventy doesn’t take the words “varying types” lightly—one of its main features being the flexibility of its templating system.
It supports:
- HTML
- Markdown
- Liquid
- Nunjucks
- Handlebars
- Mustache
- EJS
- Haml
- Pug
- ES2015
It presents itself as a Jekyll alternative, and, from what I’ve seen so far, a pretty good one at that. To quickly start a project with no configuration, 11ty is probably even more efficient than its predecessor.
Then again, Jekyll still has a broader plugins ecosystem and will probably be easier to scale if that’s what you need. It’s not to say that 11ty won’t catch up as it grows more mature, though.
Some developers are actually making the migration, confirming that it might be worth taking the time to compare both options.
Sidenote: read this to get started with Jekyll.
Intrigued yet? Let’s dive into more technical stuff.
Read more about Eleventy in the words of its creator here.
#javascript #programming
