Loops and Generated Lists

One of the best reasons to use a static site generator is to stop hand-copying repeated markup.

Loops let one template render many items from structured data.

Basic Liquid loop

<ul>
  {% for skill in page.skills %}
    <li>{{ skill }}</li>
  {% endfor %}
</ul>

Front matter:

skills:
  - Python
  - Linux
  - Robotics

Jekyll can generate three list items from one template.

Trace the mechanism

YAML LIST
  ↓ page.skills
LIQUID LOOP
  ↓ one iteration per item
HTML LIST ITEMS

Inspect _site and count the generated <li> elements.

Controlled change

Add one skill to YAML.

Predict:

• which source file changes;
• which template stays unchanged;
• how many output list items should exist after the build.

Build and verify.

That is the maintainability win: content changes without duplicating markup logic.

Empty lists

What if skills is empty or missing?

Test it.

Then decide whether your template should:

• show nothing;
• show a fallback message; or
• enforce that the data must exist.

Different sites can make different decisions. The important part is making the behavior deliberate.

Portfolio action

Use a loop to generate one real repeated element from data you own.

Good candidates:

• skills;
• current tools;
• interests;
• project technologies.

Unit 4 will move larger repeated datasets into _data and collections.

Checkpoint

Explain why this:

{% for skill in page.skills %}

can be easier to maintain than copying five <li> blocks by hand.

Your answer should mention separation of data from rendering structure.