Next JS: Exploring the trade-offs.

What is NextJS?

In addition, Automatic Static Optimization makes choosing between a static and dynamic website virtually unnecessary. Because it enables the creation of hybrid applications that include both statically generated pages and pages rendered on the server, these two words have been combined.

The most widely used React framework for building server-side rendering web apps comes next.

NextJS pros and cons

When to use NextJS?

To get better business results

• Increase Your Online Exposure: Next.js supports server-side rendering (SSR), which enables improved indexing by search engines and increases online exposure.
• Improved User Engagement: Next.js ensures quick page loading and high page performance, resulting in a great user experience.
• Reduce Maintenance Costs: The requirement for intensive maintenance work is reduced by Next.js’ streamlined development environment and built-in optimizations.

To improve the development process

• Easy Scalability: Next.js makes app scaling simple, enabling it to quickly handle heavy traffic loads and adjust to changing user needs. Scalability is made easy with serverless deployment options.
• speed Optimization: Next.js assures quick page loads and a pleasant user experience by offering cutting-edge speed optimization techniques including static site generation (SSG) and server-side rendering (SSR).
• Accelerated Development: A large selection of functionalities are available right out of the box with Next.js, which shortens development times. Routing, state management, and styling have built-in solutions that developers may select, eliminating the need for manual configuration and external dependencies.
• Support from a thriving community: The Next.js community is vibrant and offers a variety of information, assistance, and ready-made solutions. Developers can use this community-driven ecosystem to find solutions, exchange information, and use packages created by the community, expediting their development process.
• Enhanced Security: Next.js places a high priority on security by supporting server-side rendering (SSR) and enforcing best practices for data handling. This guarantees defense against client-side flaws and improves the overall security posture of online applications.
• While Next.js effortlessly integrates with the Jamstack architecture, it also allows flexibility in the development of your digital solutions. In order to adapt their apps to particular project requirements, developers might use server-side rendering (SSR) and dynamic routing when necessary.

Users of NextJS have a wide range of options, which has a number of benefits. But Next has disadvantages, just like any other technology.

We are going to give you information on both advantages and disadvantages so that you can decide with confidence.

NextJS and Jamstack

For creating extremely quick and SEO-friendly Jamstack websites, it is currently one of the best frameworks available.

You may read our interview with Colby Fayock, one of the Jamstack community’s gurus, to learn more about the platform.

Pros of Next.JS

Let’s analyze them in detail.

Benefits of Next.js for corporate building projects

• Developing a strong MVP faster – The first step in establishing a new corporate endeavor is typically the development of a strong MVP. Your ability to quickly iterate, validate, and refine ideas is made possible by the solid foundation that Next. js gives. You’ll be able to enter the market and test business ideas considerably more quickly as a result.
• Superior User Experience: In the cutthroat digital environment in which we now live, providing outstanding user experiences is essential. Here, Next.js excels thanks to its client-side rendering, dynamic routing, and automatic code-splitting capabilities. With the use of these features, user interfaces can have fluid transitions, load pages more quickly, and be more interactive. In order to stand out from the competition, you can build unique digital experiences that engage users.
• Excellence in search engine optimization (SEO): For business venture development, creating a strong online presence is essential. Search engines can efficiently crawl and index pages thanks to Next.js’ built-in support for server-side rendering. Because of its SEO-friendliness, you may maximize your product’s visibility from the start, increasing organic traffic and brand recognition.
• Reusability and modular architecture are important since starting new businesses typically calls for decreasing costs and increasing development efficiency. Effective teamwork is also essential, as is code reuse. Through the use of reusable components, development teams can create applications using Next.js’ modular architecture. This method simplifies the development process, improves the maintainability of the code, and promotes teamwork among various project teams.
• Thriving Developer Ecosystem: A thriving developer community and a large ecosystem of plugins and libraries are two advantages of the Next.js platform. To accelerate development efforts and improve the functionality of their ideas, designers can make use of pre-built components, integrations, and tools by utilizing this ecosystem. The venture teams are thus able to quickly prototype and incorporate novel features.
• Scalability for Future Growth: As business venture-building initiatives progress, scalability becomes an important factor. In order to support expanding user bases and changing business requirements, Next.js offers a scalable architecture. Next.js will support the growth and potential market disruption of your ideas, so you can go with building your business with confidence.

Benefits for business owners

Every business strives to improve its conversion rate because it has a direct impact on sales, we can state with confidence. These businesses must do that by utilizing contemporary technologies to create a really distinctive user experience with both current and potential clients in mind.

They may fully manage the final design of their websites, online shops, applications, and other digital products by using Next.JS, which makes this possible. Furthermore, you are not constrained by tools like themes or plugins that are exclusive to a certain eCommerce platform or Content Management System (CMS).

Other benefits of NextJS for companies include:

• Adaptability and responsiveness – A strong user experience depends on a website or application’s responsiveness, which allows it to adapt to the device’s screen size. Both of these qualities are essential to a successful user experience.
• Data security – Sites built using NextJS are static, thus there is no direct link to the database, dependencies, user data, or any other sensitive data. Data security is thereby guaranteed.
• Faster time to market – NextJS is an excellent tool for quickly generating an MVP because it comes with a lot of predefined components. With this method of construction, you may quickly receive feedback and make necessary product improvements without wasting time or money.
• Fully omnichannel – You can sell your products and services through many sales channels because NextJS-built websites and apps are fully omnichannel and usable on any device.
• Short page load time – Static websites load quickly by default, so users and customers will be happy with NextJS websites’ and web apps’ performance.
• Support on demand – as NextJS and its development services get more well-known, so does the number of developers. As a result, finding a company or independent contractor to perform some improvements will be simple.

What Marketers can get from NextJS

Using NextJS delivers marketers both of these benefits because it makes websites and online applications quick, light, and simple to scan, all of which are important for boosting Google rankings. Additionally, as Google rankings rise, organic traffic rises as well, which eventually boosts conversion and sales rates.

Marketers may develop a distinctive user experience that encourages engagement, conversions, and brand loyalty using the tools and abilities provided by Next.js. Dynamic routing and automatic code splitting can help marketers execute targeted ads, improve content delivery, and personalize user experiences.

They can easily develop landing pages and marketing campaigns, respond swiftly to shifting market trends, and increase overall marketing effectiveness thanks to Next.js’ flexibility and scalability.

By utilizing the potential of Next.js, marketers may enhance their efforts in digital marketing, enhance customer acquisition and retention, and promote company expansion. All marketing initiatives will benefit from a higher return on investment (ROI) as a result of it. It will be clearly noticeable, especially in the eCommerce sector where a lot of online stores have identical designs and where marketers can leverage a unique storefront to stand out from the competition.

Pros of NextJS for developers

Finally, thanks to the numerous capabilities that NextJS provides, there are advantages for web developers. Reusable React components save development time and costs, which has developers very enthusiastic.

The most recent Next.js release will be our first! Beginning in May 2023, the Next.js App router, a new paradigm for creating apps, was made public after first being made accessible for beta testing. We can say that it provides access to improved rendering speed, development experience, and mental model. This update introduced new advantages like:

• App parts can be streamed to users instantly by using React Server Components, allowing them to engage with an app without having to wait for the entire load to complete.
• Utilizing static rendering, the application renders quickly.
• Thanks to server-centered routing, development efficiency was increased.
• You can define server components that run on the server during rendering and feed updates to the client. This procedure offers advantages like faster initial load times, less JavaScript bundle sizes, and enhanced SEO.

However, there’s more:

• Using a CSS parser, programmers can import CSS files from a JavaScript file. New parses enhanced CSS processing and exposed issues that would have previously gone undetected.
• React components are updated quickly; changes are immediately visible.
• Automatic image optimization is carried out by the built-in image component of this functionality. As AVIF images are now supported, WebP images can now be 20% smaller.
• Support from the community – As NextJS becomes more widely used, more people are contributing to it. As a result, developers can likely uncover solutions that already exist rather than having to start from scratch.
• Static site generation combined with server-side rendering Pre-render pages using SSG in a single project at build time or request time.
• By re-rendering existing pages in the background as traffic comes in, incremental static regeneration enables web developers to update existing pages. Content that was previously static can now be dynamic.
  Support for TypeScript – automated compilation and configuration of TypeScript.
• No Configuration: NextJS offers automatic compilation and packaging. In other words, it is created with manufacturing in mind from the beginning.
• Data retrieval: Depending on the purpose of the app, content is rendered in various ways. This covers content updating or creation at runtime using incremental static regeneration, as well as pre-rendering with server-side rendering or static site generation.
• API routes make it simple to create an API endpoint as a serverless Node.js function.
  Reduce the first payload size of your app by dividing the code into smaller chunks and only serving the components that are really used.
• SWC, a compiler for Rust, can convert and minify JavaScript code for use in production. A brand-new Rust compiler is included with Next.js, and it has been optimized for bundling and building with 3x quicker local refreshes and 5x faster builds for production.
• Middleware facilitates the usage of code over configuration, allowing you to execute code prior to the completion of a request. Request responses can be modified, and the user can be redirected from one path to another.

Summary of NextJS pros

Disadvantages of NextJS

Cost of flexibility – Since Next JS does not offer many pre-built front pages, you must build the entire front-end layer from scratch.
Development and Management – If you want to use NextJS to create an online store but don’t have a team of developers on staff, you’ll need someone to take care of the development and management thereafter.
Lack of an integrated state manager means that you must use Redux, MobX, or a similar tool if you need a state manager.
Low number of plugins – compared to Gatsby.js, less easily adaptable plugins can be used.

Alternative to NextJS

However, there are occasions when it’s preferable to think about using Gatsby, particularly if you don’t intend to update the website frequently.