Comparing Roq with Hugo, Jekyll, and JBake: A Feature Breakdown
Here’s a feature comparison with some popular SSGs to highlight how Roq stacks up.
| Feature | Roq | Hugo | Jekyll | JBake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Fast, and leveraging Quarkus dev-mode | Extremely fast (written in Go) | Slower due to Ruby and plugins | Slower, runs on Java with Freemarker/Groovy templates |
| Templating | Qute (simple & readable) | Go templates (powerful but complex) | Liquid (easy but limited) | Freemarker, Groovy, or Thymeleaf |
| Extensibility | Leverages Quarkus extensions | Limited plugin system | Large plugin ecosystem | Limited, Java-based plugins |
| Setup | Requires JDK (for now) | Single binary install | Requires Ruby & Bundler | Requires Java & Gradle/Maven |
| Dynamic Features | Can integrate with Quarkus for hybrid use | Mostly static, some JS workarounds | Plugins enable some dynamic behavior | Fully static |
| Community | Growing, part of Quarkus ecosystem | Large, well-established | Large, long history | Niche, less active |
| Learning Curve | Begginer friendly, easier for Java developers | Can be difficult due to Go templates | Complex to setup and update | Moderate, depends on template engine |
A Quick Note About Roq
Roq is highly extensible through plugins, which are built as Quarkus extensions (dependencies). Key features like SEO and Sitemap are already available, with more features in the works, including:
- search (Issue #141)
- image processing (Issue #42)
A current limitation is the lack of a theme catalog to help get started (Issue #270). While it’s not difficult to convert themes from other SSGs to Roq, I’m working on an AI-based theme converter (Issue #365) to make this process even easier 😁.
Considering its young age, Roq is still very complete!
Conclusion
Jekyll is widely used but comes with the complexity of setting up Ruby environments, which often causes headaches. It has a strong plugin system and is easy to get started with, but performance can be an issue for large sites.
JBake was the only Java-based SSG before Roq, but it feels outdated compared to modern alternatives. It lacks the flexibility and performance optimizations of newer SSGs like Hugo and Roq.
Roq aims to offer a modern, Java-friendly alternative that brings the ease of Jekyll, the speed of Hugo (to some extent), and the flexibility of Quarkus.