Ruby – Static web site generation

I need an easy way to generate static web pages so that I can serve them up with Apache or Nginx. Currently I am using SproutCore's build tool (Abbot) to generate static pages but that is a little bit cumbersome as it is designed for building SproutCore apps, not non-SproutCore HTML pages.

Here are my requirements:

• Javascript must be combined and minified
• CSS files must be combined
• Each image / CSS / Javascript asset must have unique URL for better caching (query string isn't enough)
• Asset URL should be different only when it really changes
• Localization support thorough HTML, CSS, Javascript and image files
• Nice template engine with layouts, partials etc.

Here are possible solutions I have found:

• Create the site using Ruby on Rails, then get all resources using wget like http://usefulfor.com/ruby/2009/03/23/use-rails-to-create-a-static-site-rake-and-subversion/
• Use Middleman: http://middlemanapp.com

Any thoughts on this?

After a longish evaluation process I have decided to use Middleman. It does the trick and I love its simplicity and the fact that I can use existing Rack components with it.

Best Regards,

Pekka Mattila