Learn Next.js in 10 Tweets

Learn Next.js in 10 Tweets

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Next.js has taken the web dev world by storm

It's the React 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 🧵

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1. Next.js is a React.js framework from Vercel

React based web framework

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, and more

https://nextjs.org/

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2. Next.js was created by and is maintained by Vercel

Created by Vercel

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 and community has grown exponentially, including contributions from web leaders like Google

https://vercel.com/blog/next

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3. Next.js & Jamstack Adoption

58.59% adoption in the Jamstack community

In the Jamstack world, Next.js pulled a hefty 58.6% share of framework adoption in 2020

Compared to other popular React.js frameworks like Gatsby, which pulled in 12%

*The Next.js stats likely include some server side rendered, arguably not Jamstack

https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2020/jamstack

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4. Create a new Next.js app with Create Next App

Create Next App

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 https://github.com/colbyfayock/next-sass-starter

https://nextjs.org/docs/api-reference/create-next-app

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5. Next.js Routing

File system based router

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

https://nextjs.org/docs/routing/introduction

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6. Next.js was built on Server Side Rendering

Server side rendering

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

https://nextjs.org/docs/basic-features/pages#server-side-rendering

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7. Next.js supports statically generating apps

Static Site Generation

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

https://nextjs.org/docs/basic-features/pages#static-generation-recommended

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8. Next.js hybrid approach with Incremental Static Regeneration

Incremental Static Generation

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

https://nextjs.org/docs/basic-features/data-fetching#incremental-static-regeneration

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9. Serverless functions with Next.js

Serverless Functions

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

https://nextjs.org/docs/api-routes/introduction

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10. Next.js & Plugins

Plugins & Packages

Instead of a dedicated plugin ecosystem, 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

https://nextjs.org/docs/basic-features/image-optimization

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Learn Next.js by building an online store

eCommerce with Next.js

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 egghead.io course Create an eCommerce Store with Next.js and Stripe Checkout

https://egghead.io/projects/create-an-ecommerce-store-with-next-js-and-stripe-checkout

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