What is Next.js?
Next.js is a React framework built by Vercel that gives you everything you need to build production-ready web applications. While React itself is a library for building user interfaces, Next.js adds the structure, tooling, and optimizations that every real-world app needs.
Why Next.js?
Building a production React app from scratch means configuring routing, server-side rendering, code splitting, bundling, and more. Next.js handles all of this out of the box:
- File-based routing — create a file, get a route
- Server-side rendering (SSR) — pages render on the server for better SEO and performance
- Static site generation (SSG) — pre-render pages at build time
- API routes — build your backend in the same project
- Built-in optimizations — images, fonts, scripts are automatically optimized
Next.js vs Plain React
| Feature | React (CRA/Vite) | Next.js |
|---|---|---|
| Routing | Manual (React Router) | Built-in (file-based) |
| SSR | Manual setup | Built-in |
| SEO | Poor (client-only) | Excellent |
| API Routes | Separate server needed | Built-in |
| Code Splitting | Manual | Automatic |
| Image Optimization | Manual | Built-in (next/image) |
What you'll learn in this course
By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Set up a Next.js project from scratch
- Understand the App Router and file-based routing
- Fetch data on the server and client
- Work with Server and Client Components
- Deploy your app to production
Let's get started!