What is Next.js?

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Next.js is an open-source, flexible React framework (created and maintained by Vercel) that gives us building blocks to create fast web applications.

But… wait, what? “React framework”? Isn’t React a framework itself?

In technology terms, React cannot really be considered a “framework” simply because it does not really provide tools out of the box that developers can use, and this is why React is considered more of a “library” instead.

On the other hand, Next.js is using this “library” and it handles the tooling and configuration needed for React, and provides additional structure, features, and optimizations for the application (such as building tools, routing, customizable components, etc).

Technically speaking, Next.js is enabling React-based web applications with server-side rendering build option and it is also generating static websites. Where traditional React applications can only render their content in the client-side browser, Next.js extends this functionality to include applications rendered on the server-side.

High level point of view

As we already seen, at a high level, Next.js is a tool for building web applications. It provides a set of features and tools that can help you create fast, reliable, and scalable applications.

Some of the key features of Next.js include:

• Server-side rendering: Next.js provides built-in server-side rendering, which means that the server generates the HTML for a page, which is then sent to the client. This can improve SEO, boost performance, and enhance the user experience.
• Automatic code splitting: Next.js automatically splits your code into smaller chunks and loads only the necessary parts, reducing load times and improving performance. This is done through a technique called code splitting, which is a way of breaking up large bundles of code into smaller, more manageable chunks.
• Static site generation: In addition to server-side rendering, Next.js also supports static site generation (SSG), which can result in even faster load times and better performance. With SSG, the HTML for your pages is generated at build time and stored as static files, which can be served directly to the client.