Introduction

The SSG Build Performance Comparison project was a research initiative designed to evaluate and compare the build performance of popular Static Site Generators (SSGs) when processing local markdown files as a data source. Although no longer actively maintained, this project provided valuable insights into SSG build times, particularly for large-scale static sites with numerous pages.

Main Features

1. Comparison of multiple popular SSGs
2. Performance testing with local markdown files
3. Scalability testing up to 64,000 static pages
4. Automated build process for consistent results
5. Visual representation of performance data
6. Open-source codebase for transparency and community contributions

Installation Steps

As the project is no longer maintained, the installation steps are not directly applicable. However, for historical reference:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/seancdavis/ssg-build-performance-tests.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd ssg-build-performance-tests
   

3. Install dependencies (assuming Node.js is installed):

   npm install
   

4. Set up individual SSG environments as per their respective documentation

Usage Instructions

While the project is no longer active, the previous usage involved:

1. Running performance tests for each SSG
2. Generating markdown files for testing
3. Building sites with varying numbers of pages (1, 100, 1000, 10000, 64000)
4. Collecting and analyzing build time data
5. Comparing results across different SSGs

Important Notes

1. The project is no longer maintained due to evolving web development practices.

2. Results from the most recent runs are still available at https://ssg-build-performance-tests.netlify.app/.

3. The project was originally created as a research piece for CSS-Tricks.

4. SSG build performance was a significant issue in 2018-2020, which this project aimed to address.

5. Modern page rendering patterns have largely superseded the need for such large-scale static site generation.

6. The project used JavaScript as the primary language, with contributions in Astro, Nunjucks, CSS, TypeScript, and Ruby.

7. It was licensed under the MIT license, encouraging open collaboration.

8. The repository includes configurations for various tools like Netlify, Jest, and Webpack.

9. While no longer relevant for current web development practices, the project remains a historical reference for SSG performance comparisons.

10. Developers interested in the methodology can still access the previous README file and codebase for reference.