This is the second part in a series on JAMstack, looking at its origins, benefits, how it compares with other tech stacks and how Argano is using it in web development.

In the first part of our JAMstack series, we delved into the basics of the technology stack and carved out a few of its fundamental principles and benefits. In this second part, we are going to dive deeper into the intricacies of JAMstack, how it compares to other tech stacks, where Argano sees its future within the web development landscape, and how we use it to deliver speed, scalability, and security.

How JAMstack compares to other stacks

Technology stacks are in a state of constant evolution. We have seen many adapt in the last couple of decades. However, an important point to note here is, unlike many of the technology stacks in the past, JAMstack is not yet another technology stack. It is instead an architectural concept.

• LAMP stack is an open-source stack that stands for Linux (the operating system), Apache (the web server), MySQL (the relational database management system) and PHP/Perl/Python (the server-side scripting language). It is a distinct approach to web development compared to JAMstack. The JAMstack emphasizes pre-rendered static pages and client-side rendering, while the LAMP stack relies on server-side rendering and a more traditional approach to web development, which limits scalability.
• MEAN stack is a modern and popular full-stack JavaScript framework that stands for MongoDB (the NoSQL database), Express.js (the web application framework), Angular (the front-end framework), and Node.js (the JavaScript runtime). The main difference between the JAMstack and MEAN stack lies in their approach to rendering web pages. The JAMstack emphasizes pre-rendered static pages, while the MEAN stack focuses on server-side rendering and a comprehensive JavaScript-based full-stack environment.
• MERN stack is another modern and popular full-stack JavaScript framework that stands for MongoDB (the NoSQL database), Express.js (the web application framework), React (the front-end library), and Node.js (the JavaScript runtime). Similarly, the main difference between the JAMstack and MERN stack lies in their approach to rendering and serving web pages. The former favors pre-rendered static pages and client-side rendering, while the latter relies on server-side rendering and a traditional approach to web development.

The JAMstack offers improved performance, scalability, and security compared to LAMP, MEAN, and MERN stacks by leveraging pre-rendered static pages, client-side rendering, and simplified deployment processes.

How Argano uses JAMstack

As a strategic partner that builds digital foundations, Argano pushes the boundaries in web architecture. We take existing technology and optimize it through enhanced functionality using the latest solutions.

The JAMstack is just the beginning of a massive transformation in how developers build on the web. Argano believes the evolution of this trend will have far-ranging implications, such as:

Every SaaS application and modern website will be built using a JAMstack framework. While a lot of the use cases today are related to ecommerce and static content like blogs and marketing copy, the long-term benefits of JAMstack will result in the framework being the foundation for all types of web experiences, static or dynamic. Moreover, the JAMstack enables a “build once, deploy anywhere” approach, allowing great user experiences to be delivered directly to the end user.

The market for JAMstack-related tools and services will exceed $100 billion in the next five years. Given the broad spectrum of use cases, for both consumers and enterprises, we think the market for JAMstack-related tools and services will dwarf the already massive $100 billion web hosting market. There will be several exciting $1b+ companies built in this space, whether new hosting providers, headless content management systems, or API vendors. We are already seeing the emergence of a few potential ones in Netlify, Contentful, and Vercel.

The full-stack developer will slowly disappear from the enterprise. The decoupling of the front-end and back-end draws a clear line in the sand for what developers need to focus on in order to deliver a web experience. Out of necessity, front-end developers often need to learn complex back-end logic in addition to staying up to speed with a rapidly evolving set of front-end technologies. JAMstack breaks the need for full stack expertise and will enable front-end developers to focus on what they do best.

Development teams will more frequently be organized around front-end and back-end logic, as opposed to products and microservices. A monolithic product architecture by definition requires collaboration between front- and back-end developers. As such, engineering teams have historically been organized in a vertically integrated approach.

However, our conversations with engineering leaders suggest that with a JAMstack-based approach, combined with the rise of microservices-based architectures, front- and back-end devs are more easily able to work independently. As such, we believe that engineering org structures will start to decouple in a similar fashion, with teams increasingly dedicated to just front- or back-end logic.

JAMstack will help usher in a new golden age for immersive content. As the complexity

of building sophisticated, performant web applications get abstracted away, content and functionality will become the critical components developers focus on to differentiate the experiences they build. We are already seeing better-designed web experiences, and our conversations with designers this past year indicate that 3D content will become pervasive. A simple browse through Apple’s website will reveal not a single 2D image. We believe this is the direction of many future websites.

We are also excited about the potential of WebGPU, a future web standard like WebAssembly, that will enable richer, more dynamic 3D content on the web. In the more distant future, we expect AR content to also become more commonplace, enabled by the JAMstack building blocks we’re seeing put in place today.

The web will become completely unbundled. Aside from the sheer market size here, what excites us about the JAMstack trend is that it represents a broader unbundling of the web. The first wave, which we are seeing today, is that the presentation layer of the web is being cached and distributed to the edge. Over time, we expect that this trend will penetrate deeper than the presentation layer reaching the application logic and core infrastructure.

Over time, we believe all modern software will begin to run as globally distributed services. The entire stack is moving closer to the end user presenting an end to a long era of centralized compute services, enabling richer, faster and safer experiences.

We implement JAMstack solutions for businesses looking for specific types of website and app capabilities. These include static and content-heavy websites, which we can pre-render content into static files to speed up loading times and ensure consistent performance.

Single-page application (SPAs) are also major beneficiaries of a JAMstack approach as we can build the front-end code into static files, with APIs managing dynamic data retrieval and server-side logic. This helps improve an SPA’s scalability, security and cost efficiency.

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are big winners, too. By utilizing client-side JavaScript and service workers, we can enable offline functionality, push notifications and deepen the app-like experience.

Finally, we are using JAMstack to optimize ecommerce websites by creating static pages for product listings and APIs to handle separate elements such as payment systems, inventory management, and cart functionality. The result is an ecommerce site that is fast loading, scalable, secure and highly customizable.

This is architecting at the forefront of modem web development.

Is your enterprise looking to reshape its digital foundations and pursue a headless approach? Then connect with Argano.