Since January 2018

Hoast

Hoast is a build automation tool I developed to streamline the creation of static websites. As its creator and maintainer, I've designed it to be modular and efficient, allowing users to automate data processing tasks with ease.

Building Hoast from the ground up has been a significant part of my journey in open-source development. I started it in January 2018 to solve my own needs for faster, more reliable website generation, and it has evolved into a versatile tool used by developers worldwide. Maintaining it involves overseeing contributions, ensuring compatibility, and iterating based on user feedback to keep it relevant in the fast-paced world of web development.

Hoast powers several of my key projects, including this portfolio site (rondekker.nl), the Doars framework website (doars.js.org), and its own documentation site (hoast.js.org). Its incremental rebuild feature ensures lightning-fast development—changes rebuild in milliseconds—while full site generations complete in just a few seconds. This efficiency has saved countless hours in my workflow, enabling rapid iteration on complex, multilingual sites and demonstrating my ability to create tools that deliver real productivity gains. Beyond personal use, Hoast has helped others automate their build processes, showcasing my commitment to open-source innovation and problem-solving.

Further Reading

Visit the Hoast project website for more information or checkout the Hoast source code available on GitHub.

You can also learn more about other open source projects of mine as well:

• Doars a lightweight front-end framework I developed to add interactivity to websites without complex code
• Staark a minimalist front-end framework I developed for efficient, tiny web apps.