March 2018 Summaries

Static sites have emerged as a viable security solution for web applications, offering improved speed and reduced attack surfaces by removing dynamic backend connections. By leveraging static site generators, developers can create fast, reliable, and secure websites that are easily deployable to various hosting providers. However, static sites may not be suitable for all use cases, particularly those relying heavily on dynamic content, such as user comments. To overcome this limitation, third-party services using JavaScript code snippets can be implemented to provide a modular approach.

This blog post outlines the process of building a serverless Flask website using Zappa, which simplifies deployment to AWS Lambda and API Gateway. The author uses Contentful as the content management system for managing and creating content for their website. The website is built with Python and utilizes virtualenv for package management. The author discusses the benefits of serverless architecture, including cost savings and reduced maintenance requirements. They also highlight some potential costs and performance concerns when using AWS Lambda and API Gateway. The post includes a step-by-step guide on how to set up and deploy the website, as well as tips on how to optimize performance and manage costs.

The author reflects on the challenges of building unique content pieces using a traditional "Microsoft Word"-driven approach, where multiple pages are powered by different documents created with a WYSIWYG editor. They introduce the concept of small, reusable blocks of content that can be used to build something new, similar to Lego, but acknowledge that creating a unique piece without referencing an existing manual is hard. The author shares their experience with using angularjs-contentful-starter, a boilerplate that provides a quick setup process for Angular development with Contentful, and highlights the importance of having a well-structured content model. They discuss the need to visualize and maintain a content model, using tools like contentful-graph, which helps identify issues such as inconsistent field names or unnecessary relationships. The author also introduces the concept of automated migrations using contentful-migration-cli, allowing for scripted changes to be made to the content model without manual intervention. By visualizing their content model, making changes, and using the right tools, the author believes that it's possible to create a scalable and maintainable content model tailored to their needs.