May 2017 Summaries

We had an exciting conversation on the popular Changelog podcast about JAMstack, Netlify, and Netlify CMS. We discussed how open source drives standards in our industry. Additionally, we shared a success story where we helped Smashing Magazine improve their website speed by 10x through our expertise with Netlify CMS.

The Jamstack, a combination of JavaScript, APIs, and Markup, is gaining momentum in modern web development, with static site generators at its core. Static sites are safer and faster than traditional monolithic websites, with less database vulnerabilities and the ability to serve highly dynamic content without server-side code running directly on the site. The most popular static site generators include Jekyll, Hugo, Hexo, GitBook, Octopress, Gatsby, Pelican, Brunch, Metalsmith, and Middleman. These tools offer various features such as speed, security, flexibility, and ease of use, making them suitable for different types of projects, from blogs to documentation sites and enterprise websites. The list provides an overview of the top static site generators, along with their key characteristics and use cases, helping developers make informed decisions when choosing a tool for their web development needs.

Picking a good user interface typeface is crucial, as it represents the personality of an app or product. However, certain fonts are better suited for UI due to their legibility and versatility. Native system fonts have gained popularity in recent years, offering advantages such as reduced hosting requirements, automatic updates, and consistent rendering across devices. The most popular native system fonts include San Francisco, Roboto, and Source Sans Pro, each with its unique characteristics and strengths. When implementing system fonts, designers must consider the font family's design, weights, and variations to ensure a seamless user experience. Prioritizing fonts like San Francisco can simplify design decisions while still acknowledging the value of other fonts in the ecosystem.

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a day to explore the topic of accessibility on the modern web. Netlify has been raising awareness internally about accessibility, focusing on educating themselves and the community on best practices. The May JAMstackSF meetup was dedicated to accessibility, with speakers sharing their experiences on designing for senior citizens, implementing CSS toolkits, creating accessible video content, and using developer tools for visual accessibility. The event aimed to encourage attendees to take a different perspective when reviewing their apps and sites for accessibility. Netlify thanks the organizers and speakers for an amazing evening and encourages readers to learn more about accessibility and check out the GAAD page.

GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. To learn about GraphQL, one can use it by following starter projects like the one created on GitHub or exploring open source projects. Netlify provides tools and free hosting to support open source projects, including Open Sauced which aims to help developers navigate the process of contributing to open source projects. The project uses Graphcool for a serverless GraphQL backend, leveraging the `graphql-up` tool for easy deployment. It also accesses the GitHub GraphQL API to retrieve repository data, using tools like GraphiQL to view documentation and build queries. The final version is deployed on Netlify with a 1-click deploy button, allowing users to contribute to the project by submitting pull requests and issues. The project's founder, Brian Douglas, aims to create a foundation for exploring GraphQL and reducing the chance of getting lost in the open source process.

You're looking to move your Jekyll site from GitHub Pages to Netlify. To do so, create a Gemfile with the necessary dependencies and a .ruby-version file specifying the Ruby version. Connect your site to Netlify by adding it as a repository and configuring build settings. You'll need to add the Jekyll build command and location, allowing you to take advantage of features like deploy previews and free custom domains with SSL.

Graphcool is a flexible backend platform that combines GraphQL and AWS Lambda, offering greater flexibility in the API layer and tools for specifying complex permission rules. Unlike Parse and Firebase, Graphcool is based on open source technology, allowing developers to focus on building their app rather than managing database migrations and log files.

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a crucial element in providing a delightful experience to website visitors, ensuring fast loading times despite geographical distance between access points and servers. The main benefits of using a CDN include global reach with no latency issues, increased reliability, reduced response times, access to analytics for trend discovery, and cost savings. However, optimizing a CDN strategy is essential due to its indirect consequences on search engine optimization (SEO) and website reliability. A CDN failover strategy can be implemented to ensure website availability by using multi-CDNs. Synchronizing CDN settings with the origin server and website ensures proper cache hit ratio metrics and reduces "cache miss" issues. Additionally, adopting HTTP2 for improved performance and security can enhance user experience. Frontend optimization techniques such as decreasing HTTP requests, optimizing images, and utilizing vector images can further maximize the effectiveness of a CDN service.

You can configure redirects and rewrite rules for your Netlify site by adding a `_redirectsfile` to the root of your site folder. This file should be deployed along with your build command, not just placed in the repository's root. For more information on what can be done with the `_redirects` file, you can refer to the documentation and try out test rules at Netlify's playground environment. The founder of OpenSauced, Brian Douglas, is mentioned as having expertise in this area.

In a recent episode of JAMstack Radio, a discussion was held on common use cases for serverless computing (FaaS) and the cost benefits of using services like AWS Lambda compared to traditional servers. The conversation also touched upon the main players in the FaaS space, including vendor lock-ins that may be encountered when utilizing these services.