gcc -E was my first SSG. Run it on files like this...

    #include "templatestart.html"
    
    <!-- Content -->
    
    #include "tenplateend.html"

Eventually a combination of wanting faster speed and NIH syndrome made me write my own that did significantly less parsing and processing.

Then I built that into a live update system I called TCUP (torstenvl's content update program).

It was a fun project, and ended up being the first non-trivial program I wrote (I was 17-18).