Essential background theory and context
In the old days of web development, client-side applications were highly coupled with the underlying server infrastructure. Much machinery was involved when we wanted to visit the page of a website using a URL. The browser would send the requested URL to the server, and the server should respond with a matching HTML file for that URL. This was a complicated process that would result in delays and varying round-trip times.
Modern web applications eliminate these problems using the SPA architecture. A client needs to request a single HTML file only once from the server. Any subsequent changes to the URL of the browser are handled internally from the client infrastructure. In Angular, the router is responsible for intercepting in-app URL requests and handling them according to a defined route configuration.
Jamstack is a hot, emerging technology that allows us to create fast and secure web applications. It can be used for any application type, ranging from an e-commerce website to a Software as a Service (SaaS) web application or even a personal blog. The architecture of Jamstack is based on the following pillars:
- Performance: Pages are generated and prerendered during production, eliminating the need to wait for content to load.
- Scaling: Content is static files that can be served from anywhere, even from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider that improves the performance of the application.
- Security: The serverless nature of server-side processes and the fact that content is already static eliminates potential attacks that target server infrastructures.
Scully is the first static website generator for Angular that embraces the Jamstack approach. It essentially generates pages of the Angular application during build time to be immediately available when requested.
