WhoBuilt

Webpack & Callstack experts’ take on Next.js Conf

Oct 28, 2022· 25 min· 621 views·Watch on YouTube
#Web Development

Speakers

Lucashost of the React Native Show podcast at Callstack Team
Michałhead of technology for React Native at Callstack Team
Zach

Callstack host Lucas and Michał, Callstack’s head of technology for React Native, discuss Next.js 13 and Turbopack with Zach, a Webpack maintainer and creator of Module Federation, on Callstack’s React Native Show Coffee Talk.

A conference shaped by marketing

Zach and Michał found the Next.js Conf presentation polished but heavily modeled on Apple keynotes. Michał said the marketing focus could shape how developers perceive open-source technology, especially when a prominent company’s claims spread widely.

What Next.js 13 layouts change

The group discussed why the conference revisited layouts that had already been available in beta: the final implementation had nuanced differences from earlier versions. With the App directory, developers can fetch data at the component level, and parallel fetching can avoid the waterfall pattern of loading app and page data in sequence.

Server Components and the learning curve

The speakers described Next.js 13 as bringing React 18 features such as Suspense and React Server Components to Next.js users. Components in the App directory are server components by default, while `use client` marks client components. They saw potential performance gains, such as rendering SVG icons on the server, while noting that developers will need to understand serialization, state, and which code runs where.

Turbopack, Webpack, and plugins

Zach compared Turbopack’s emitted runtime and chunking system to Webpack’s, while stressing that the early project lacked important capabilities, including server-side dynamic imports. He argued that faster Rust-based file processing does not replace Webpack’s plugin ecosystem. Turbopack’s broader adoption will depend on a capable plugin API, potentially including a JavaScript interface for community extensions.

Takeaways

  • Treat conference claims as a starting point; check the implementation and documentation, especially when features are evolving.
  • Component-level data fetching can help avoid sequential loading, but confirm how a framework coordinates parallel work and dependencies.
  • Server Components can reduce client JavaScript for suitable UI, but teams need clear boundaries for state, serialization, and client-only features.
  • A faster bundler may still be a poor fit if essential plugins or integrations are missing.
  • Keep performance-heavy build analysis in a systems language while offering accessible extension points for plugin authors.

Mentioned in this talk

Callstack TeamVercelNext.jsTurboOpenRouter plugin systemesbuildModule FederationwebpackApp DirectoryReactReact Server ComponentsRustTobias

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What was claimed 11

  • built
    Zach built Module Federation
    “creator of Module Federation”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • role at
    Zach is maintainer at webpack
    “Webpack maintainer”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • role at
    Michał is head of technology for React Native at Callstack Team
    “our head of technology for React Native”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • role at
    Lucas is host of the React Native Show podcast at Callstack Team
    “I'm Lucas, your host.”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Next.js: Version 13 introduced the App directory and announced the alpha version of Turbopack
    “they announced Next.js 13 and the alpha version of Turbopack”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Next.js: Components in the App directory are React Server Components by default; Client Components use the use client directive
    “every component under the app directory is a React Server Component by default”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Turbo: Its emitted runtime and chunking system are described as closely resembling Webpack’s
    “From a runtime standpoint, the chunking system works exactly the same as webpack's.”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • uses
    Turbo uses Rust
    “when I look at the Rust code”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Turbo: At the time of the talk, it lacked parts of Webpack’s plugin ecosystem and had limitations including server-side dynamic imports
    “Right now, it can’t support dynamic imports server-side; it’ll just crash.”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • feature
    Turbo: Its success may depend on a flexible plugin API, potentially with JavaScript support
    “Its success is going to depend on what the new plugin API looks like.”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk
  • founded
    Tobias founded webpack
    “Tobias, the founder of Webpack”
    YouTube
    Unverified1 source· Talk

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