What is JAMStack?
JAMStack is an approach to building and deploying modern websites. The JAM in JAMStack is an acronym for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup. These three components are included in every single page application (SPA) or progressive web app (PWA), but JAMStack differs in a key aspect. JAMStack commerce solutions make use of content delivery networks (CDN) and pre-rendered static files to guarantee lightning-fast performance, reliable uptime, and enhanced security.
Pre-rendering content during the build step, instead of relying on server-side rendering (SSR) simplifies deployment and allows websites to take advantage of long standing CDN technology. These CDNs allow for a global deployment which scales by design. The static nature of the files removes the need to server maintenance and adds additional security. Speed is everything in the world of commerce, especially during peak sales seasons. There is no faster option than static files served globally over a robust CDN.
It's impossible to build a fully static commerce experience, so JAMStack experiences are enhanced with JavaScript and APIs to take care of all instances where you need some dynamic content, including discount information, the checkout process, payment, and account data. This API enhancement is supercharged by choosing modern SaaS solutions with a focus on speed and scale.
The Building Blocks in a JAMStack Architecture:
JavaScript
JavaScript, often abbreviated as JS, is the most popular programming language for professional developers and the clear choice for developing advanced and performant ecommerce websites. JavaScript is leveraged in multiple ways when building a JAMStack site, first it is the key building block during the build step. Since JAMStack websites are pre-rendered to static files, the build step is an extremely critical component, thankfully there are well supported tools to help including Gatsby, NextJS, NuxtJS, Svelte-Kit and more. These JavaScript frameworks provide the option to build and release the project with a JAMStack architecture. In addition to the build step, JavaScript is key to handling dynamic aspects of the website after the being deployed. JavaScript will act as the glue between the static rendered website and any APIs leveraged to enhance the functionality.
APIs
APIs are also leveraged during both the build step and during website interactions. Since JAMStack is deployed to a static CDN, APIs must enable all server-side operations required. In a typical JAMStack ecommerce deployment, content and product data would be queries from the APIs during the build step and deployed as static assets. Dynamic actions including search, cart, and account data would involve API queries directly from the browser. For this reason, any API solutions adopted need to be extremely performance and able to handle both bursts of bulk API calls from a build server as well more sporadic API calls across the globe.
Markup
Markup can stand for multiple aspects of a JAMStack solution. It may represent markdown files leveraged for content and creation during the build step, JSON responses from the REST APIs, and perhaps most importantly the HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) that is compiled and served via content delivery network. This is the key benefit of JAMStack as having the core HTML rendered at build time, not runtime, ensures the best performance. This is especially true for JAMStack eCommerce websites who need consistent international performance which is built in to a CDN deployment as opposed to a single geographic server.