The Good, The Bad, and The Next.js

Introduction

Nextjs is a popular meta framework for React.

It is one of the most popular and powerful framework.

Framework by nature is very opinionated. Nextjs is also the same. It requires certain structure and convention to implement features.

There are many things Nextjs does well and many it does not. And it being a framework for serverless infrastructure sometimes brings some frustration.

This article is a collection of my thoughts on Nextjs.

The Good

Here are some good things about Nextjs.

Nextjs is a framework for React.
file-based routing
Server Side Rendering and Static Site Generation
API Routes handlers and middleware
Image Optimization, font optimization

The Bad

Here are some bad things about Nextjs.

No separation of server-side and client-side code.
Bad self-hosting support
No batteries included such as Auth support, ORM support, etc.
Confusing directives like "use client" and "use server".

The Nextjs

Whether you like it or not, Nextjs is the new home for React. At least the official documentation of React recommends to use Nextjs for new projects.

But the project structure of Nextjs is a bit chaotic. A lot of config files, a lot of packages, and a lot of maintainance. It is not an easy task to maintain a nextjs project.

Nextjs is not targeted for single freelance type developer. It is targeted for large companies that have a lot of developers actively working and maintaining the project. And it really refacts this reality within its ecosystem and codebase.

But I want Nextjs to be a framework for single freelance type developer. I want Nextjs to be easy to maintain and update. And I want Nextjs to be simple and still be powerful.

Conclusion