Thread by @colbyfayock

Next.js has taken the web dev world by storm

It’s the @reactjs framework devs rave about praising its power, flexibility, and dev experience

Don't feel like you're missing out!

Here's everything you need to know in 10 tweets

Let’s dive in 🧵

@reactjs Next.js is a @reactjs framework from @vercel

It couples a great dev experience with an opinionated feature set to make it easy to spin up new performant, dynamic web apps

It's used by many high-profile teams like @hulu, @apple, @Nike, & more

nextjs.org

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike The team at @vercel, formerly Zeit, originally and launched v1 of the framework on Oct 26, 2016 in the pursuit of universal JavaScript apps

Since then, the team & community has grown expotentially, including contributions from giants like @Google

vercel.com/blog/next

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google In the #jamstack world, Next.js pulled a hefty 58.6% share of framework adoption in 2020

Compared to other popular @reactjs frameworks like Gatsby, which pulled in 12%

*The Next.js stats likely include some SSR, arguably not Jamstack

almanac.httparchive.org/en/2020/jamsta…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google The easiest way to get started with a new Next.js app is with Create Next App

Simply run:

yarn create next-app

or

npx create-next-app

You can even start from a git-based template with the -e flag

yarn create next-app -e github.com/colbyfayock/ne…

nextjs.org/docs/api-refer…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google Next.js uses a file-system based router

Meaning the files you create and their names, are what's used to create your website pages

/pages/index.js
=> / (homepage)

/pages/about.js
=> /about (About)

You can also add dynamic routes for more complex apps

nextjs.org/docs/routing/i…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google The foundation of Next.js comes from SSR

SSR = Server Side Rendering

On each browser request, Next.js renders the React page and serves the HTML to the browser

If any data is needed, getServerSideProps can be used to fetch dynamic data during render

nextjs.org/docs/basic-fea…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google It's also capable of SSG

SSG = Static Site Generation

`next export` takes the Next.js website, renders the project similar to how it would on the server, and saves it as static files and assets

getStaticProps allows you to fetch data at build time

nextjs.org/docs/basic-fea…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google There's also a hybrid approach with ISR

ISR = Incremental Static Regeneration

Caching mechanisms serve pages statically while refreshing stale content in the background on the server

Setting revalidate on getStaticProps defines how often it refreshes

nextjs.org/docs/basic-fea…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google Next.js can also create APIs with serverless functions

It also uses file-system based routing to create new routes

/pages/api/my-endpoint.js
=> /api/my-endpoint

Inside, you export a handler function to handle the request and response

nextjs.org/docs/api-route…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google Instead of a dedicated plugin ecoystem, Next.js maintains opinionated packages that get bundled into the framework

next/image provides a range of optimizations like compression, automatic modern formats, and responsive sizing

nextjs.org/docs/basic-fea…

@reactjs @vercel @hulu @Apple @Nike @Google Next.js is a flexible framework that gives you as a developer a lot of power over creating great experiences on the web.

Want to dive more into Next.js & React?

Check out my @eggheadio course:

Create an eCommerce Store with Next.js and Stripe Checkout

egghead.io/projects/creat…

I’ll also be giving a deep dive on Next.js at @snipcart’s first webinar

Snipcart & Friends Present: WTF is Next.js?

March 1st at 2pm EST

Register for free below

app.livestorm.co/snipcart/snipc…

You can find a bunch of tutorials for Next.js and other web dev tools on my YouTube channel

youtube.com/colbyfayock

Make sure to also subscribe to my newsletter.

I send out free weekly tutorials teaching React, Next.js, and other web dev tools

colbyfayock.com/newsletter

https://twitter.com/colbyfayock/status/1362444733604331521