In this tutorial, we will cover a comprehensive guide on Next.js, the popular React framework for building server-side rendered (SSR) web applications. We will be covering Next.js 13 and walk you through the basics to more advanced topics, with a total runtime of 7 hours.
What is Next.js?
Next.js is a React framework that enables you to build server-side rendered applications with ease. It provides features like automatic code splitting, hot module replacement, and optimized routing to create fast and efficient web applications. Next.js is built on top of Node.js and allows you to create static websites, single-page applications, and dynamic web applications.
Prerequisites
Before we get started, make sure you have the following tools and knowledge in place:
- Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- Node.js installed on your machine
- A code editor like Visual Studio Code or Atom
Getting Started
To start using Next.js, you first need to create a new project. Open your terminal and run the following command:
npx create-next-app my-next-appThis command will create a new Next.js project in a directory named my-next-app. Once the project is created, navigate to the project directory and start the development server by running:
cd my-next-app
npm run devThis will start the development server at http://localhost:3000. You can now open your browser and navigate to this URL to see your Next.js application running.
Pages in Next.js
Next.js uses a file-based routing system, where each page of your application is defined by a file in the pages directory. For example, if you create a file named about.js in the pages directory, you can access the About page of your application at http://localhost:3000/about.
Dynamic Routing
Next.js also supports dynamic routing, where you can create dynamic pages based on the URL parameters. For example, if you create a file named [id].js in the pages directory, you can access dynamic pages like http://localhost:3000/123 or http://localhost:3000/456, where 123 and 456 are dynamic parameters.
Data Fetching
Next.js provides multiple ways to fetch data in your application, including static site generation (SSG), server-side rendering (SSR), and client-side rendering (CSR). You can use the getStaticProps and getServerSideProps functions to fetch data at build time and request time, respectively.
Styling in Next.js
Next.js allows you to style your components using various approaches, including CSS modules, styled-jsx, and CSS-in-JS libraries like styled-components or emotion. You can import CSS files directly into your components or use the built-in support for CSS-in-JS solutions.
API Routes
Next.js provides support for API routes, where you can define serverless functions to handle requests from your frontend. You can create API routes by creating files in the pages/api directory and defining the necessary server-side logic.
Deployment
After building your Next.js application, you can deploy it to various hosting services like Vercel, Netlify, or AWS. Next.js provides built-in optimizations for deployment, including automatic code splitting and serverless functions, to create fast and efficient web applications.
Additional Features
Next.js comes with additional features like image optimization, internationalization, and analytics integration to enhance the functionality and performance of your application. You can explore these features in the official Next.js documentation and add them to your project as needed.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we covered the basics of Next.js and walked you through creating a new project, defining pages, fetching data, styling components, handling API routes, and deploying your application. Next.js is a powerful framework for building server-side rendered web applications with React, and we hope this tutorial helps you get started with Next.js development. Happy coding!
I only know React so please let me know if this course is relevant for current iteration of Next js 14 (going on 15 as I hear) or do I need to wait for an updated video. Would be sad to spend so many hours only to run into errors.
I only finished chapter 4, but I can definitely say that I've learned so much and I'm more than confident I will keep on learning until the end.
These chapters are clean, fresh and very informative. Every piece of it is really helpful to get through Next.js.
I salute you
perfect as always
Walker Frank Jones Helen Lee Deborah
I already considered myself a "somewhat good" Next developer. But I watched your course out of curiosity and to fill in the gaps. I still managed to learn quite a few tricks. Thank you.
learned a lot.. your teaching method is awesome but sometimes you do in more depth that causes difficulty
Thats illegal… to be free! Wow, I really happy about people, like you, still exist!
Thx from Russia
P.S: I really want to support you on Patreon, but I'm Russian & my card is blocked to use to pay on patreon
Actually, I may have not answered the questions correctly. Got those files now.
Thanks for the series, Dave. Have one problem. Even though I am creating my project as npx create-next-app@13.1.6, and use your same answers, my file structure is different from yours. I don't have an app directory, nor do I have layouts.tsx. Any thoughts?
Amazing!
Hi Dave I used this code
export async function generateMetaData({ params: { userId } }: Params): Promise<Metadata> {
const user = await fetchUserData(userId);
return {
title: user.name,
description: `This is the page of ${user.name}`
}
}
in the directory app/users/[userId]/page.tsx but it does not show title in my page.
the full code base:
import getUser from "@/lib/getUser"
import getUserPosts from "@/lib/getUserPosts"
import { Suspense } from "react"
import UserPosts from "./components/UserPosts"
import type { Metadata } from "next"
import { fetchUserData } from "@/helper/api"
type Params = {
params: {
userId: string
}
}
export async function generateMetaData({ params: { userId } }: Params): Promise<Metadata> {
const user = await fetchUserData(userId);
return {
title: user.name,
description: `This is the page of ${user.name}`
}
}
export default async function UserPage({ params: { userId } }: Params) {
//const userData: Promise<User> = getUser(userId)
const userPostsData: Promise<Post[]> = getUserPosts(userId)
const user = await fetchUserData(userId)
return (
<>
<h2>{user.name}</h2>
<br />
<Suspense fallback={<h2>Loading…</h2>}>
{ /* */}
<UserPosts promise={userPostsData} />
</Suspense>
</>
)
}
In my main layout.tsx file has
import './globals.css'
import type { Metadata } from 'next'
import { Inter } from 'next/font/google'
export const metadata: Metadata = {
title: '',
description: '',
}
export default function RootLayout({
children,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>{children}</body>
</html>
)
}
Do I need to expert in React js first ?
I get a job as a software developer and i been aplying some knowledge learned from you… thanks.
Please Update for NEXT JS 14 Sir 😊
Thanks ❤
This video is so confusing
I’m sorry but I don’t understand anything
It’s not beginners friendly
You have helped me a lot with things like node js react js and this course. Thank you very much from Somalia
Can you do a new video on the new Next version and the difference between the 13? I think the head is now included in the layout.js as metadata
So is this course not outdated even now? Was thinking about learning it because I am getting ready to make my portfolio website and I want to make it using new technologies.
Hello, Dave and people. I want to become a fresher full stack developer. Should I learn your next js course or the mern stack? Please recommend something best. I'm familiar with the react .