Getting Started with Next.js: A Modern React Framework

Getting Started with Next.js: A Modern React Framework

Next.js has become one of the most popular React frameworks for building modern web applications. Whether you're creating a simple blog or a complex enterprise application, Next.js provides the tools and optimizations you need to build fast, SEO-friendly, and scalable applications.

What is Next.js?

Next.js is a React framework that gives you building blocks to create web applications. By framework, we mean Next.js handles the tooling and configuration needed for React, and provides additional structure, features, and optimizations for your application.

Key Features

  1. Server-Side Rendering (SSR): Generate HTML on the server for each request
  2. Static Site Generation (SSG): Pre-render pages at build time
  3. API Routes: Build API endpoints as part of your Next.js app
  4. File-based Routing: Automatic routing based on file structure
  5. Image Optimization: Automatic image optimization and lazy loading
  6. CSS Support: Built-in support for CSS Modules and Sass

Installation and Setup

Getting started with Next.js is straightforward. You can create a new project using:

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

This creates a new Next.js application with all the necessary configuration and starts the development server on http://localhost:3000.

Project Structure

A typical Next.js project has the following structure:

my-app/
├── pages/
│   ├── _app.js
│   ├── _document.js
│   └── index.js
├── public/
├── styles/
└── package.json

Pages Directory

The pages directory is the heart of Next.js routing. Each file in this directory becomes a route:

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

Your First Page

Creating a page in Next.js is as simple as creating a React component:

// pages/about.js
function About() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>About Page</h1>
      <p>This is the about page</p>
    </div>
  )
}

export default About

Static Generation vs Server-Side Rendering

Next.js provides two forms of pre-rendering:

Static Generation (Recommended)

Pages are generated at build time and reused on each request:

export async function getStaticProps() {
  const data = await fetchData()
  
  return {
    props: {
      data,
    },
  }
}

Server-Side Rendering

Pages are generated on each request:

export async function getServerSideProps() {
  const data = await fetchData()
  
  return {
    props: {
      data,
    },
  }
}

Styling in Next.js

Next.js supports various styling methods:

CSS Modules

import styles from '../styles/Home.module.css'

export default function Home() {
  return <h1 className={styles.title}>Welcome to Next.js!</h1>
}

Tailwind CSS

Next.js works great with Tailwind CSS:

npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p

Deployment

Next.js applications can be deployed anywhere that supports Node.js. Popular options include:

  • Vercel: The easiest way to deploy Next.js apps
  • Netlify: Great for static sites
  • GitHub Pages: For static exports
  • AWS, Google Cloud, Azure: Enterprise deployments

Conclusion

Next.js provides an excellent developer experience with powerful features out of the box. Its flexibility allows you to start simple and scale as your application grows. Whether you're building a blog, an e-commerce site, or a complex web application, Next.js has the tools you need.

Start exploring Next.js today and see how it can improve your React development workflow!