Introduction to Next.js

Robinson describes Next.js as a React framework with zero-config setup, ways to customize defaults, and server-side rendering built in. The course is aimed at people with basic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React knowledge, and its code will be open source.

Using a client project for Beyond HQ, Robinson shows how one Next.js site can serve static marketing pages alongside a dynamic SaaS product. The SaaS example queries a database, while the marketing pages compile to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He says this combination can support a product as its needs change.

Robinson says server-side rendering can improve initial page delivery and make content available to search engines sooner. Next.js also provides file-based routing through the `pages` folder and splits JavaScript by page by default. In a demo, the `about.js` and `index.js` bundles are 72 KB and 75 KB, respectively.

Robinson presents Next.js as a choice for static or dynamic sites that need built-in server-side rendering, while noting that it requires learning framework-specific concepts. He describes Gatsby as suited to static sites, with GraphQL and a plugin library, and notes that large builds can take a long time. Create React App is closer to plain React and easier to learn, but routing and code splitting require setup, and it does not provide server-side rendering.