starters VS Gatsby

GitHub source

The Knowledge, you’ve gained so far, is sufficient for you to be able to build applications with BCMS and Gatsby comfortably. But this application can still be improved further, dive into the starter codebase and study how it is made, learn, and model the way the project is structured.

Now it's time to build the Gatsby website with headless CMS. For this tutorial, I chose to create a static podcast website inspired by BCMS Gatsby starters.

Before the next step, let's talk about something equally important and interesting: The BCMS starters. These are a collection of fantastic websites built just for you, making it easy to set up your frontend without any hassle. There are more than 8 starters, including one for e-commerce. To use them, all you have to do is clone the repository and add your API keys.

Check out the repo to get started.

The long and detailed answer needs a new section in this blog, so here we go: for the long answer, keep reading this article at BCMS blog, or just start building Next.js projects with BCMS Next.js code starters.

I will use BCMS's Gatsby Blog Starter as an example to explain Gatsby routes:

Got the urge to show some appreciation? A ⭐️ star on the repo would be cool. https://github.com/bcms/starters

📖 Code

The first time I started building static websites is when I discovered Gatsby. I built several projects using Gatsby and hosted it on Netlify free tier. It felt like a really robust architecture and I loved that it was free.

A Gatsby site uses Gatsby, which leverages React and GraphQL to create fast and optimized web experiences. Gatsby is often used for building static websites, progressive web apps (PWAs), and even full-blown dynamic web applications.

While Next.js is a powerful framework for building server-rendered React applications, it's not the only option for developers looking to create high-performance websites. One notable alternative is Gatsby, a static site generator that leverages React and GraphQL.

The other piece of important information to acknowledge here is that when we say RSCs need a framework, “framework” effectively just means “Next.js.” There are some smaller frameworks (like Waku) that support RSCs. There are also some larger and more established frameworks (like Redwood) that have plans to support RSCs or (like Gatsby) only support RSCs in beta. We will likely see this change once we get React 19 and RSCs are part of the Stable version. However, for now, Next.js is currently the only framework recommended in the official React docs that supports server components.

GatsbyjsCMS - Gatsby is the fast and flexible framework that makes building websites with any CMS, API, or database fun again. Build and deploy headless websites that drive more traffic, convert better, and earn more revenue!

GatsbyJS

Babel plugins are everywhere. From being used to remove unwanted exports from files in Gatsby to being used to disallow users from doing re-exports in Nextjs.

In terms of GitHub stars, SSGs like Next.js, Hugo, Gatsby, Docusaurus, Nuxt.js, and Jekyll top the list. Some popular SSGs even host conferences and workshops, providing resources and networking opportunities for those looking to explore more advanced topics in depth.

Flexibility : Developers have complete control over the frontend so they can use their preferred tools and frameworks like React, Next.js, Gatsby, or Remix.