Getting Started with Next.js

If you're looking to dive into the world of modern web development, Next.js is a fantastic place to start. Next.js is a popular React framework that offers a range of features like server-side rendering and generating static websites. In this article, I'll guide you through setting up your standard Next.js project in a few easy steps.

What is Next.js?

Before we jump into the setup, let’s understand what Next.js is. It’s a React framework that enables functionality such as server-side rendering and generating static websites, which are not available out-of-the-box with React. This makes Next.js highly efficient for building fast and scalable applications.

Prerequisites

To get started with Next.js, you need to have Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your computer. Next.js requires Node.js version 10.13 or later. You can download it from the official Node.js website. nodejs.org

Follow these simple steps to set up your Next.js project:

Step 1: Creating a Next.js App

Open Your Terminal: Access your command line or terminal.
Create Your Project: Run the following command:
npx create-next-app@latest my-next-app

Here, my-next-app is the name of your new project. You can name it whatever you like. Here we'll follow app-router folder structure.

Step 2: Navigating to Your Project

Once the installation is complete, move into your new project folder:

cd my-next-app

Step 3: Running Your Development Server

Start your development server with:

npm run dev

Now, your Next.js application is running! You can view it at http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Step 4: Building Your First Page

Next.js uses a file-based routing system. The pages inside the pages directory automatically become routes.

• Open the app/page.tsx file in your code editor. This is your homepage.
• Modify the content and save the file. Your changes will instantly update in the browser.

Step 5: Adding More Pages

To add a new page, simply create a new directory in the app directory. For example, you need to create a about page- create a 'about' directory, then inside the created directory create a page.tsx/jsx file.

Deploying Your Next.js Project

When you’re ready to share your project with the world, you’ll need to deploy it. Platforms like Vercel (from the creators of Next.js) and Netlify offer easy deployment solutions for Next.js applications.

Congratulations! You’ve just set up your first Next.js project. Next.js makes it incredibly simple to build and deploy scalable, modern web applications. With your new project up and running, you're well on your way to exploring the vast capabilities of Next.js and React.