Getting Started with Next.js

Next.js has revolutionized how we build React applications by providing a powerful framework with built-in features like server-side rendering, static site generation, and API routes.

Why Next.js?

Next.js solves many common problems that developers face when building React applications:

• Performance: Automatic code splitting and optimized loading
• SEO: Server-side rendering improves search engine visibility
• Developer Experience: Hot reloading, TypeScript support, and intuitive file-based routing
• Flexibility: Choose between static generation, server-side rendering, or client-side rendering per page

Core Concepts

Pages and Routing

In Next.js, pages are React components exported from files in the pages directory. The file structure automatically determines the routes:

// pages/index.js → /
// pages/about.js → /about
// pages/blog/[slug].js → /blog/:slug

Data Fetching

Next.js provides several methods for fetching data:

• getStaticProps for static generation
• getServerSideProps for server-side rendering
• getStaticPaths for dynamic routes with static generation

API Routes

Create API endpoints as Node.js functions in the pages/api directory:

// pages/api/hello.js
export default function handler(req, res) {
  res.status(200).json({ message: 'Hello World' });
}

Getting Started

To create a new Next.js project:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app
cd my-app
npm run dev

Conclusion

Next.js provides an excellent foundation for building modern web applications. Its combination of performance optimizations, developer experience, and flexibility makes it a top choice for React developers.

Ready to dive deeper? Check out the official Next.js documentation for more advanced topics.