I started to learn React.js in August of this year. It was very tough at the beginning because I was introduced to a lot of new syntax and web development concepts. It took me about a month to kind of understand what an API is. After lots of hard-working hours, tutorials and annoying my more-experienced friend, I managed to develop a full-stack app I am proud of.
But while developing I always heard about Next.js, this new React + TypeScript framework made to develop full-stack web apps with perks like Server-Side-Rendering and all these buzzwords and weird concepts. So I got set with learning Next.js after finishing my app. Now the time has come and I started my learning. If you are interested in understanding Next.js I recommend these videos:
Why Next.js?
As I said, Next.js makes developing full-stack web apps much easier and quicker. The routing, API, and images are handled better with Next.js. For example:
To build an API, you would normally need to create almost a different project which you would call the backend. Here, you would design all your models, and controllers and configure your server and endpoints and all that stuff. It's not a particularly hard job, but it can get repetitive and it requires a lot of 'boilerplate'.
With Next, you can just create a file inside the pages/api folder and it will be treated as an API endpoint. Now you just have to configure the response and like magic, you have an endpoint running on a server.
export default function handler(req, res) {
res.status(200).json({ name: 'John Doe' })
}
Anyways, I just bought a udemy course for Next.js and I'll start learning soon. I'll be sure to give updates.
Disclaimer:
I am still learning a lot about web dev and I'm constantly making mistakes. If I said something wrong, please let me know. I love constructive criticism.