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113 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
113 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
# Alternatives
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There are tons of static site generators and themes out there and choosing the
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right one for your tech stack is a tough decision. If you're unsure if Material
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for MkDocs is the right solution for you, this section should help you evaluate
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alternative solutions.
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## Docusaurus
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[Docusaurus] by Facebook is a very popular documentation generator and a good
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choice if you or your company are already using [React] to build your site.
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It will generate a [single page application] which is fundamentally different
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from the site Material for MkDocs generates for you.
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__Advantages__
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- Very powerful, customizable and extendable
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- Provides many components that aid in technical writing
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- Large and rich ecosystem, backed by Facebook
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__Challenges__
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- High learning curve, JavaScript knowledge mandatory
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- JavaScript ecosystem is very volatile, rather high maintenance
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- More time needed to get up and running
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While [Docusaurus] is one of the best choices when it comes to documentation
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sites that output a single page application, there are many more solutions,
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including [Docz], [Gatsby], [Vuepress] and [Docsify] that approach
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this problem similarly.
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[Docusaurus]: https://docusaurus.io/
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[React]: https://reactjs.org/
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[single page application]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-page_application
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[Docz]: https://www.docz.site/
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[Gatsby]: https://www.gatsbyjs.com/
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[VuePress]: https://vuepress.vuejs.org/
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[Docsify]: https://docsify.js.org/
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## Jekyll
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[Jekyll] is probably one of the most mature and widespread static site
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generators and is written in [Ruby]. It is not specifically geared towards
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technical project documentation and has many themes to choose from, which
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can be challenging.
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__Advantages__
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- Battle-tested, rich ecosystem, many themes to choose from
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- Brings great capabilities for blogging (permalinks, tags, etc.)
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- Generates a SEO-friendly site, similar to Material for MkDocs
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__Challenges__
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- Not specifically geared towards technical project documentation
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- Limited Markdown capabilities, not as advanced as Python Markdown
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- More time needed to get up and running
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[Jekyll]: https://jekyllrb.com/
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[Ruby]: https://www.ruby-lang.org/de/
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## Sphinx
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[Sphinx] is an alternative static site generator specifically geared towards
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generating reference documentation, offering powerful capabilities that are
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lacking in MkDocs. It uses [reStructured text], a format similar to Markdown,
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which some users find harder to use.
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__Advantages__
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- Very powerful, customizable and extendable
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- Generates reference documentation from [Python docstrings]
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- Large and rich ecosystem, used by many Python projects
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__Challenges__
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- High learning curve, [reStructured text] syntax might be challenging
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- Search is less powerful than the one provided by MkDocs
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- More time needed to get up and running
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If you're considering using Sphinx because you need to generate reference
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documentation, you should give [mkdocstrings] a try – an actively maintained
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and popular framework building on top of MkDocs, implementing Sphinx-like
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functionality.
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[Sphinx]: https://www.sphinx-doc.org/
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[reStructured text]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReStructuredText
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[Python docstrings]: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0257/
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[mkdocstrings]: https://github.com/mkdocstrings/mkdocstrings
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## GitBook
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[GitBook] offers a hosted documentation solution that generates a beautiful and
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functional site from Markdown files in your GitHub repository. However, it was
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once Open Source, but turned into a closed source solution some time ago.
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__Advantages__
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- Hosted solution, minimal technical knowledge required
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- Custom domains, authentication and other enterprise features
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- Great collaboration features for teams
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__Challenges__
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- Closed source, not free for proprietary projects
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- Limited Markdown capabilities, not as advanced as Python Markdown
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- Many Open Source projects moved away from GitBook
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Many users switched from [GitBook] to Material for MkDocs, as they want to keep
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control and ownership of their documentation, favoring an Open Source solution.
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[GitBook]: https://www.gitbook.com/
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