Next.js

Meta-Frameworks

The React framework for the web

weekly downloads25.4M

versionv16.1.6

licenseMIT

App Router + RSCSSG / SSR / ISRBuilt-in optimizations

Overview

Next.js is a comprehensive React framework that enables developers to build production-ready full-stack web applications. It extends React with server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), API routes, file-based routing, and built-in optimization features. Unlike plain React which only handles the view layer, Next.js provides a complete architecture for building modern web applications with both frontend and backend concerns handled within a single codebase.

Created by Vercel, Next.js has become the de facto standard for React-based web applications, with over 25 million weekly downloads. Companies like Netflix, TikTok, Twitch, and Hulu rely on Next.js for their production applications. The framework abstracts away complex configuration while maintaining flexibility for advanced use cases, making it suitable for everything from landing pages to large-scale enterprise applications.

Next.js addresses critical pain points in traditional React development: SEO challenges with client-side rendering, manual routing configuration, lack of backend integration, and complex build optimization. Version 13+ introduced the App Router with React Server Components, providing a new paradigm for building applications with improved performance and developer experience. The framework continues to evolve with Rust-based tooling (Turbopack) that significantly accelerates build times compared to webpack.

Quick Start

typescript

// app/page.js - Server Component fetching data
async function getPosts() {
  const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', {
    next: { revalidate: 3600 }
  });
  return res.json();
}

export default async function HomePage() {
  const posts = await getPosts();
  
  return (
    <main>
      <h1>Blog Posts</h1>
      <ul>
        {posts.slice(0, 5).map(post => (
          <li key={post.id}>
            <a href={`/post/${post.id}`}>{post.title}</a>
          </li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </main>
  );
}

// app/api/subscribe/route.js - API Route
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';

export async function POST(request) {
  const { email } = await request.json();
  
  if (!email || !email.includes('@')) {
    return NextResponse.json(
      { error: 'Invalid email' },
      { status: 400 }
    );
  }
  
  return NextResponse.json({
    success: true,
    message: 'Subscribed successfully'
  });
}

// app/post/[id]/page.js - Dynamic Route
export async function generateStaticParams() {
  return [{ id: '1' }, { id: '2' }, { id: '3' }];
}

async function getPost(id) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/${id}`);
  return res.json();
}

export default async function PostPage({ params }) {
  const post = await getPost(params.id);
  
  return (
    <article>
      <h1>{post.title}</h1>
      <p>{post.body}</p>
    </article>
  );
}

Use Cases

E-commerce platforms need server-side rendering for SEO and fast initial page loads while maintaining rich interactivity. Next.js enables product pages to be pre-rendered for search engines while shopping cart functionality remains client-side interactive.

Marketing and content websites benefit from static site generation where pages are built at compile time and served as static HTML. Blog posts, documentation sites, and landing pages load instantly while remaining easy to update through headless CMS integration.

SaaS dashboards and admin panels leverage Next.js API routes to create backend endpoints alongside frontend components. Authentication, database queries, and business logic live in the same codebase as the UI, simplifying full-stack development.

Multi-tenant applications use Next.js middleware and dynamic routing to handle customer-specific subdomains or paths, with server-side logic determining which content to render based on tenant configuration.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) take advantage of Next.js's built-in optimizations like automatic code splitting, image optimization, and font loading strategies to deliver app-like experiences with minimal configuration.

Pros & Cons

Pros

+Zero-config setup with sensible defaults for routing, code splitting, and optimization out of the box
+Multiple rendering strategies (SSR, SSG, ISR, CSR) can be mixed within the same application based on page requirements
+Integrated full-stack development with API routes eliminates the need for a separate backend framework for many use cases
+Exceptional performance with automatic optimizations for images, fonts, scripts, and Core Web Vitals
+Strong ecosystem with first-party authentication (NextAuth), analytics, and deployment solutions
+Built-in TypeScript support and excellent developer experience with Fast Refresh for instant feedback

Cons

−Steeper learning curve compared to plain React, especially with App Router and Server Components paradigm shift
−Vendor lock-in concerns as many features work best when deployed on Vercel's platform
−Larger bundle size and more complexity than needed for simple client-side applications
−Breaking changes between major versions require significant migration effort (Pages Router to App Router)
−Server-side rendering adds infrastructure complexity and hosting costs compared to static sites
−Limited flexibility in build configuration compared to custom webpack setups, despite abstraction benefits

Comparisons

next vs nuxtmeta-framework →next vs remixmeta-framework →next vs astrometa-framework →

Install

bash

npm install next

bash

pnpm add next

bash

bun add next

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