How I learned Next.js
About me
I'm a full-stack developer currently working as a software engineer in a Product Based Company.
Why I wanted to learn Next.js
I wanted to learn Next.JS because as a React developer, I was missing out on a lot of good stuff. React is amazing, no doubt about it, but it has its own caveats. With Next.js in the market, it is fairly easy for React developers to organize their projects, create modular content, and deploy with ease on a hosting platform with a ZERO CONFIGURATION approach. That appealed to me and prompted me to learn more about it.
How I approached learning Next.js
Initially, I got to know about the Next framework from one of my friends who was using it. Eventually, I ended up taking a course on Next.js from Youtube. I was blown away by the workflow and with the amount of ease that comes in with Next. Let me tell you some of the key features:
- Pre-rendering: Fetch the required information before you even load a React component.
- Static site generation: The things you could do with Gatsby, you can do it with Next as well
- Server-side rendering: Server-side rendered websites are generally good for SEO.
- Optimized Search: Next is SEO friendly, unlike some client-side frameworks.
Challenges I faced
The only challenged I faced was the lack of resources over the internet when it comes to Next. Next is around 90% React so if you're a react developer, you're good to go. I prefer video lectures over documentations. The lack of resources over the internet made me read their documentation which, surprisingly, is the best.
Key takeaways
If you're a react developer and want to take full advantage of the library without hustling with routing, state management etcetera, go for Next.js. It is a complete package and a lot more convenient.
Tips and advice
Before going all out, revise a bunch of React concepts like Hooks, Context API, and general component structure. If you're familiar with PHP then you'll see a similarity of how Next uses routing concepts of PHP and beautifully integrates them into the framework.
Final thoughts and next steps
Next is a complete package, I think everyone who wants to develop applications faster without worrying about deployment (Kubernetes, Docker) stuff then you'll love it.
