Topic Table: Meet the Builders of Build Plugins

Meet the builders of Build Plugins, a way to extend Netlify's functionality with custom plugins. Learn how Subfont optimizes font loading, improves performance, and discover the power of Netlify's plugin architecture for your next project.

Key takeaways
  • Build plugins are a way to extend the functionality of Netlify, a continuous integration and continuous deployment platform.
  • Netlify has a beta program for build plugins, which allows developers to create custom plugins to solve specific problems.
  • Subfont is a build plugin that optimizes font loading for static sites, reducing latency and improving performance.
  • Subfont uses a combination of techniques, including font subsets, caching, and lazy loading, to achieve its goals.
  • The plugin has been shown to reduce font download size from 350KB to 3KB, and improve page load times by up to 6x.
  • Subfont can be used with a variety of static site generators, including Jekyll, Hugo, and Gatsby.
  • The plugin is designed to be easy to use, with minimal configuration required.
  • Netlify’s build plugin architecture allows developers to write custom code to integrate with the platform, making it a powerful tool for building complex applications.
  • The beta program for build plugins is still open, and developers are encouraged to participate and contribute to the community.
  • Netlify’s build plugins are designed to be reusable, making it easy to develop and deploy custom plugins to a wide range of use cases.
  • The use of build plugins can help developers to reduce the complexity of their development workflow, by providing a way to automate repetitive tasks and integrate with other tools and services.
  • Netlify’s build plugins can also help to improve the security and reliability of web applications, by providing a way to automate security testing and deployment workflows.