Why Next.js?

How Next.js Got Big

Next.js has rapidly become the go-to framework for building high-performance, SEO-friendly, React-based applications since its launch in 2016. Let me explain why and how it got so big in the web development scene now.

Flexible Rendering Strategies: SSR, SSG, ISR

Next.js stands out by offering multiple rendering modes in one framework:

• Server-Side-Rendering (SSR): Fresh HTML is generated on each request, ideal for dynamic content or personalized pages.
• Static Site Generation (SSG): Pages are pre-built at build time, perfect for blogs or documentation sites, and served fast via CDNs.
• Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR): Combines the best of SSR and SSG. Static pages refresh in the background without complete rebuilds. These capabilities give developers control over performance, scalability, and content freshness per page.

SEO & Performance Gains

• SEO-ready: SSR/SSG ensures search engines crawl full-rendered HTML, improving indexability.
• Core Web Vitals: Features like image optimization, code-splitting, and Turbopack boost metrics like LCP, FCP, TTI.
• In real-world cases, many teams meet Google's Core Web Vitals thresholds on first deployment (89%) with Next.js VS 52% with other frameworks.

Built-In Image Optimization

With the image component, Next.js delivers:

• On-demand, responsive image
• Lazy Loading
• Modern formats like WebP
• CLS prevention

Developer Experience & Productivity

• Zero-config setup: File-based routing, type support, hot module reloading work out of the box.
• Full-stack in a single repo: API routes, SSR/SSG, and middleware all coexist. No need for separate backend codebases.
• Turbopack: Next-gen build tool (Rust-based) that dramatically accelerates builds, faster than Webpack and Vite.

Go For It

Next.js isn't just another React boilerplate. It is a full-featured, versatile application framework. Whether you are building a blog, e-commerce platform, marketing microsite, or full-stack application, Next.js delivers a powerful foundation, so you can focus on delivering value instead of wiring up infrastructure.