Getting Started with Hakyll
With all it’s security issues, administrative overhead, and oldskool complexity, why run wordpress in 2016? A static site generator like Jekyll, Hakyll, the more recent Hugo, or any one of the other few hundred, leave the content creator with just as many options, while offering a simpler hosting experience, and no PHP to hack.
On another note, maybe you are good with HTML and CSS, but I am not. Consider this my attempt to better express myself to the world, while also teaching myself the basics of UI design and getting things done in this sphere (I’m usually the backend guy keeping the site up, not the guy creating the frontend everyone interacts with).
I am here to exercise another part of my mind.
Thus, I set out to find the static generator for me. Options abound, but I found it pretty easy to settle on Hakyll for a few reasons:
- It is written in Haskell
- It uses Stack for install and building
- It is not written in python and doesn’t have a terrible install UX
- I don’t have to learn golang or ruby to make it work, I have another reason to learn some Haskell
- The documentation is simple and clear
- When reviewing the example sites, the spectrum of creation is impressive
While I gave jekyll, hugo, and a few others a shot, getting started with Hakyll was easy and enjoyable, so I’ve stuck with it.
