NextJS Vs ReactJS
Tags: react, nextjs, webdev
Published: 2023-12-30 07:39:41

Dive into the JavaScript landscape with our comprehensive comparison of NextJs and ReactJs. Uncover these technologies' strengths, use cases, key differences, and performance. Choose the ideal tool for your web development projects.

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or a newcomer, this guide decodes the nuances. Let’s make it easy for you to navigate the dynamic world of JavaScript frameworks.

## Introduction

Web development is a dynamic realm. Your choice of a JavaScript framework can significantly impact the success of your projects.

Developers strive for optimal performance, seamless user experience, and efficient project workflows. Understanding the nuances between these technologies becomes paramount.

## prerequisites

It is essential to ensure you have a fundamental understanding of the following prerequisites

- HTML and CSS proficiency
- Basic JavaScript knowledge
- ReactJs fundamentals

Before we dive deep, one important thing to point out is that, when it comes to ReactJs and NextJS, it’s more of a partnership, not a competition. 

Think of ReactJS as a core tool for building user interfaces and NextJS steps in as the production-ready framework for React. In other words, NextJs is a React-based framework tailored for creating server-rendered apps (we dive deeper into server rendering later in the article). It's all about making ReactJs more powerful and versatile.  

## ReactJS

React is a JavaScript library introduced by Meta in 2011 as your go-to library for creating dynamic user interfaces. It is composed of user-friendly components that easily design interactive UIs. These components receive data and smoothly render the display. React is all about making UI designs simple and efficient. 

React has several features that make it one of the most popular front-end libraries. The features are as follows

 

- **_Enhanced Performance_**

React utilizes a virtual Document Object Model (DOM) ensuring efficiency by updating only the modified components instead of re-rendering the entire DOM. 

- ***Component Re-usability***

React’s component-based architecture is a game changer. Once you create a component you can reuse it across your application.

- ***Simplifying Debugging***

React simplifies the debugging process by using unidirectional data flow from parent to child components. This makes it easier to trace issues

## ReactJs is great for building the following.

- Dynamic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly websites
- Software as a service (Saas) apps
- Social media platforms
- Single page application
- Interactive dashboard visualization tools
- Video streaming platforms

## NextJS

NextJs is an open-source framework for React built by Vercel. What sets NextJs apart is the exceptional developer experience it offers for creating fast SEO-friendly apps. This means you can skip the struggles of dealing with extensive configurations and dive right into building your app. NextJS makes your life easier as a developer. 

Next has a lot of advantages, some of them are as follows

- ***Easy Coding***

NextJs streamlines the coding process. It reduces code volume and enhances readability simplifying project management. 

- ***Speed***

Apps built with NextJS are lightning-fast due to server-side rendering (SSR) and static generation. We explore more on Server-side rendering and Client-side rendering later in the article.

- ***API Integration***

NextJs seamlessly connects to third-party Application Programming Interfaces (API) expanding project possibilities and enabling the creation of custom API routes. All this makes NextJs a great choice when building e-commerce stores.

## Key Differences

Here are several interesting differences between these two JavaScript tools. They will help you decide if you want to use them in combination or not. 

 ***Development Speed***

NextJs Comes with built-in features that make developing advanced React apps easier. In NextJs 12, Vercel introduced its own compiler that speeds up the building process.

 ***Data fetching and Performance****
 
Performance is one of the major features that differentiate React from React combined with NextJs. NextJs can efficiently fetch data from the server by traversing the React tree allowing pages served by NextJs to load faster.

 ***Rendering and SEO***

NextJs is based on Server-side rendering while ReactJs is based on Client-side rendering. To understand, let’s expound on these two types of rendering.

### Server-side rendering(SSR) vs Client-side rendering(CSR)

- ***SSR***

Renders Pages on the server and sends fully rendered HTML to the client.

Faster initial page load, better for SEO.

Requires more server resources.

- ***CSR***

Sends minimal HTML and relies on client-side JavaScript for rendering.

Slower initial page load, SEO challenges.

Enables dynamic, interactive user interfaces.

 ***Routing***

NextJs has a predefined file system for routing. This provides a structured approach. React offers various routing options through libraries like react-router.

 **Configuration**

React has limitations in configuration. It doesn’t provide robust support making it more complicated in changing settings. On the other hand, NextJs can be customized in a lot of ways.

## Should you use React combined with NextJs?

Try to think about nextJs as a turbo boost for React. NextJs provides enhanced structure and rendering features to React. Basically, NextJs acts as a powerful engine for React’s capabilities. It improves the already robust React functionality and rise it to a new level.

The following are ways in which NextJs improves your React projects

- Routing
- Code Splitting
- Image Optimization

Decisions to use NextJs on your React apps will always depend on your requirements.

## Conclusion

As we wrap up our exploration of NextJS and ReactJs, it's clear that these frameworks offer unique strengths and applications. Decoding the nuances is crucial for developers navigating the dynamic JavaScript landscape.

Ultimately, choosing between ReactJs and NextJS depends on your project needs. The dynamic partnership between them provides a powerful engine for developers, elevating ReactJs functionality based on specific requirements and goals.