What is the difference between React and Next.js?

Understanding React and Next.js

React and Next.js are tools used by developers worldwide for creating web applications. While they share many features, their differences are what make them truly stand out.

Understanding React

React, developed by Facebook, is a popular JavaScript library used to build user interfaces. It focuses on building reusable components that manage their own state, therefore making it efficient and flexible. To know more about UI Design, you can refer to this link.

Understanding Next.js

Next.js comes as a framework for React, enabling developers to build server-side rendered and static web applications using React. It essentially takes the power of React and adds more functions and features, such as pre-rendering. This is one of the reasons Next.js is the most popular JavaScript framework today.

Key Differences

• Server-Side Rendering: Unlike React, which is a client-side rendering library, Next.js allows for server-side rendering. This essentially means it sends a fully rendered page to the client.

• Routing: React has no built-in routing system, unlike Next.js, which has an inherent file-system based routing system.

• SEO: One of the major advantages of Next.js is its SEO friendliness due to its capability for server-side rendering.

To learn more about web applications and their development, you can head to this link.

Conclusion

While both React and Next.js are robust tools that support the creation of complex web applications, their use depends largely on the needs of the project. Next.js tends to be preferred for projects requiring server-side rendering and good SEO, while React can be a go-to for more straightforward web applications.

Still have questions about which to use for your project? Feel free to contact us.