The React Framework of Choice for Our Experts

Our frontend engineers at code.store adore Next.js and its flexibility. Coupled with the ease of hosting web applications on Vercel platform, it provides one of the best development experiences, and as a consequence reduces the development time for our clients.

What are the advantages of Next.js?

• Server-side rendering (SSR): Next.js is known for its server-side rendering capabilities. SSR allows pages to be generated on the server before being delivered to the client. This ensures that pages load faster, resulting in a better user experience.
• Static website generation (SSG): Next.js also supports static website generation. With SSG, pages are pre-rendered at build time, which means that they don't require server processing when a user requests them. This results in lightning-fast page loads and improved performance.
• SEO-friendly: With server-side rendering, Next.js provides better SEO capabilities compared to traditional front-end frameworks. Search engines can easily crawl and index content, improving the visibility of your website in search results.
• Performance optimization: Next.js automatically optimizes your application by employing techniques such as code splitting and static file serving. This means that only the necessary code is loaded for each page, resulting in smaller bundle sizes and faster load times.
• Additionally, Next.js allows for optimization of image loading, prefetching, and caching, further enhancing performance.

Is Next.js worth it?

Media and publishing businesses should consider using Next.js for their web development projects because of its features like pre-rendering, server-side rendering, and static generation, which can help in creating fast, user-friendly, and SEO-ready websites. Next.js is based on React, and is one of the most popular frameworks, meaning that your existing teams won't have to spend much time adapting to it.

Is Next.js better than React?

Comparing Next.js and React isn't about declaring one as superior to the other, but rather understanding their distinctive strengths and how they complement one another.

React is a JavaScript library that provides the building blocks for creating UI components, offering flexibility and control over the view layer of an application.

Next.js, on the other hand, is a framework built on top of React. It enhances the capabilities of React by providing out-of-the-box solutions for routing, server-side rendering and static site generation, thus simplifying and accelerating the development process.

Next.js can be particularly beneficial for projects where SEO and initial load performance are crucial, as it supports server-side rendering and static generation. However, if you need more flexibility and control over your application's architecture, React's library approach might be more suitable.

In essence, the choice between React and Next.js largely depends on your project's specific requirements and constraints.

What are the disadvantages of Next.js routing?

While Next.js simplifies routing, there are a few drawbacks. Limited customization is a primary concern. By design, Next.js uses a file-system-based routing method, which might not offer the level of customization required for more complex applications.

Dynamic routing can also pose challenges. While Next.js does support it, the performance might be slower compared to static routing, which it is optimized for. This could potentially impact the user experience on websites with a high number of dynamic routes.

This could add an additional layer of complexity, particularly for developers not familiar with Node.js.

Is Next.js 14 stable?

Next.js 14 has vastly improved stability, particularly in its Server Actions and Turbopack features.

Server Actions, previously an intricate process, now provide a stable, powerful way to leverage backend features without creating API routes or route handlers. This not only simplifies your codebase but also enhances your overall developer experience.

On the other hand, Turbopack (written in Rust), has seen significant improvements in stability. Originally an experimental feature in Next.js 13, Turbopack now supports all Next.js features, passing 5,000 integration tests for next dev.

In addition to these advancements, Next.js 14 also takes a major step towards enhancing initial rendering and reducing layout shifts with revamped metadata options.

We love Next.js!

Talk to our engineers at code.store to know more about Next.js, and how it can improve your frontend applications.