What is Jekyll? #html #css #javascript #webdev #webhosting #github #githubpages #java #git

Jekyll is a simple, blog-aware static site generator. It takes a directory of text files, typically written in Markdown, and generates static HTML files for use on a website. Jekyll is perfect for creating personal, project, or organizational websites because it requires no database, making it fast and lightweight.

Key Features of Jekyll:
Markdown Support: Write content in Markdown, which Jekyll converts to HTML.
Liquid Templating: Jekyll uses Liquid, a powerful templating language, to generate dynamic content within your static site.
Layouts & Includes: Jekyll allows for the use of layouts and includes to build reusable components, such as headers, footers, and navigation menus, across different pages.
Front Matter: Files in Jekyll can have metadata at the top, called front matter, which helps organize content, manage templates, and add variables to the pages.
GitHub Pages Integration:
One of the most popular uses of Jekyll is its integration with GitHub Pages, which allows you to host your Jekyll-generated static websites for free on GitHub. By simply pushing your Jekyll site to a GitHub repository, GitHub Pages will automatically build and serve your website without needing to set up any additional servers or tools.

Why Jekyll with GitHub Pages?
Free Hosting: GitHub Pages offers free hosting for static websites, and Jekyll is natively supported.
Easy Deployment: Push your repository to GitHub, and it automatically rebuilds your site using Jekyll.
Custom Domains: GitHub Pages supports custom domains, which can be easily set up for your Jekyll site.
Use Cases:
Personal Blogs: With built-in support for blog posts and templates, Jekyll is ideal for simple personal blogs.
Project Sites: Create documentation and project sites using static HTML with Markdown.
Business and Organizational Sites: Static sites that do not require frequent backend updates benefit from Jekyll’s simplicity and speed.
In short, Jekyll is an efficient way to build static websites that require minimal resources, and its integration with GitHub Pages makes deployment and maintenance straightforward and cost-free.