It is painful to go through a cycle of compilation + redeployment just because of a slight change in the html of the page.
Is there a way we can have the non-jsf part of jsf pages as static, editable files after an app is deployed?
Do you mean deployed in production or during development? If it's during development, i have no issues editing .xhtml files (or static resources that are referenced in from jsf pages, like CSS or helper .js scripts used in the page) on the fly, from the IDE, and getting immediate feedback via browser refresh. It allows for very fast iterative development, approaching nodejs speeds. I sometimes even start with blank and broken .xhtml and build it up one bit at a time; also works with the temple/inheritance stuff.<p>If you're talking about a build that has been already deployed in production - i'd advise on concentrating on making better CI/CD process than messing around with individual files in the artifact. Bump the patch and minor versions and send it down the pipeline; coffee time.