Static Site Generation (SSG) is a feature provided by Next.js to pre-generate HTML files for your web application's pages at build time. This means that instead of generating the HTML content on the server for each user request, Next.js generates static HTML files for all the possible routes of your application during the build process. These static files can then be served to users directly from a content delivery network (CDN), resulting in faster page load times and better performance.
Build Process: When you build your Next.js application, the framework goes through all the defined pages and components, executes any necessary data fetching, and generates static HTML files for each route.
Data Fetching: fetch data directly in page from api, database (for nextjs 13+/ app router). For older versions using page router we used
getStaticPropsfunction to fetch data from APIs, databases, or other sources and pass it as props to the React component.HTML Generation: After fetching the necessary data, Next.js generates static HTML files for each page, including the fetched data. This process ensures that the content is pre-rendered and ready to be served to users.
Deployment: Once the build process is complete, you can deploy the generated static files to a web server or a content delivery network (CDN) for distribution.
User Access: When a user requests a page, the static HTML file is delivered directly from the server or CDN, resulting in instant loading times. The JavaScript bundles are still downloaded to provide interactivity and dynamic updates on the client side.