Glossary · 3 · Publishing SDKs and structured content
Static site generator
Also known as: SSG, Static website generator
In web publishing, a static site generator is a tool that builds a complete website of prebuilt HTML, CSS and asset files from content sources, such as Markdown or other markup files, templates and configuration, at build time, so that the pages can be served as files without generating them on each request.
- Publishing SDKs
- Technical documentation
In one sentence
A static site generator builds a website of prebuilt HTML files from content files and templates at build time; common in docs-as-code.
Example
The SDK documentation is kept in Markdown next to the code; on every merge the CI pipeline runs a static site generator and deploys the resulting HTML to the documentation site.
How it applies
- Publishing SDKs: Static site generators are the publishing engines of many docs-as-code setups. Examples are Hugo, Jekyll, MkDocs and Sphinx; each reads its own source format (Markdown, reStructuredText, MyST and others), applies templates or themes and writes a folder of files. Their plug-in and theme systems work like the extension points of other publishing toolkits.
- Developer SDKs: API references generated from code comments or an OpenAPI document are often merged into a statically generated site together with guides and tutorials. Versioned builds publish one site per SDK release.
- Build pipelines: The site is built in a build pipeline or continuous integration, so content changes go through version control, review and automated checks (broken links, spelling, validation) before they are published.
- Delivery: Prebuilt files can be served from a content delivery network and need no application server or database at request time. Search, feedback and personalization are added through client-side scripts or external services.
- Limits: A static site generator renders what its sources contain. Structured reuse, variant filtering and print output need either extensions or a different publishing toolkit; many teams combine a structured source with a generator for the web channel.
Static site generator vs. structured publishing toolkit
A static site generator targets websites and usually works with lightly structured markup. A structured publishing toolkit, such as DITA Open Toolkit, validates content against a content model, resolves reuse and conditions, and produces several channels, including PDF. Both turn sources into output at build time; they differ in how much structure they enforce.