Why Next.js is Our Go-To Framework for Web Apps

When it comes to building modern, high-performance web applications, the choice of framework is a critical decision. At Univolute, we've worked with a variety of technologies, but we consistently find ourselves returning to Next.js. Here's a breakdown of why the "React Framework for the Web" has become an indispensable part of our toolkit.

Hybrid Rendering: The Best of Both Worlds

Next.js offers flexible rendering strategies on a per-page basis. We can use Server-Side Rendering (SSR) for dynamic pages that need fresh data on every request, Static Site Generation (SSG) for marketing pages and blogs that can be built once and served via a CDN, and Client-Side Rendering (CSR) for highly interactive dashboards. This flexibility allows us to optimize for performance, SEO, and user experience simultaneously.

Developer Experience (DX)

Happy developers build better products. Next.js excels in providing a world-class developer experience. Features like Fast Refresh for instantaneous feedback during development, a file-system based router that simplifies page creation, and built-in support for TypeScript and CSS Modules make the development process smooth and efficient.

Performance and Optimization

Performance is not an afterthought in Next.js. Automatic code-splitting ensures that each page only loads the JavaScript it needs. The built-in Image component automatically optimizes images for different screen sizes, lazy loads them, and serves them in modern formats like WebP. These features, combined with its powerful rendering strategies, lead to faster load times and better Core Web Vitals.