So, what is NextJS and why would you use it?
Well, the answer is NextJS is a React framework,
so it builds up on React.js,
and you therefore, of course, might wonder,
why do we need it?
After all, React.js is already a library itself.
Why do we need another framework
that builds up on React.js?
Well, because NextJS is a full stack React framework,
so it simplifies the process
of building full stack apps with React.
And that's a huge thing,
because recently, over the last couple of months and years,
there's been a trend to go back
to building full stack applications
instead of just client-side single page applications.
And indeed, the React library itself
added more and more features
that make it a bit easier to run React on the server
and render components on the server specifically.
But that's typically not all you need
if you want to build a full stack application.
Instead, if you wanna build
a complete, feature-rich full stack application,
you also need help with handling form submissions,
fetching data, authenticating users,
and a lot of other things.
And that's exactly what NextJS gives you.
So, it builds up on React
and then vastly simplifies the process
of building full stack applications with React.
Therefore, in order to use NextJS,
and in order to build applications with NextJS,
you need a solid React foundation.
You need to know React,
because you'll still be building components and so on.
But then NextJS allows you to take your React skills
to the next level, so to say,
and it allows you
to build full stack applications with React.
And that's exactly what we'll do
over the next couple of hours.