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Universal rendering is widely used in the React ecosystem, in large part thanks to Next.js[0] making it simple to set up and run. Many large sites like Marvel.

by mxstbr 8y ago

Universal rendering is widely used in the React ecosystem, in large part thanks to Next.js[0] making it simple to set up and run. Many large sites like Marvel.com, Nike.com, Invisionapp.com, hulu.com and many more run on server-side rendered React, see the Next.js showcase for a more complete list: https://nextjs.org/showcase https://nextjs.org/showcase [0]: https://github.com/zeit/next.js/ https://github.com/zeit/next.js/

leerob 8y ago
Agreed. I'm a big fan of Next.js and haven't had any major problems with it. While there have been some quirks and nuances I had to learn[0] it still provides the easiest platform for SSR out of the box. [0]: https://leerob.io/blog/things-ive-learned-building-nextjs-apps/ https://leerob.io/blog/things-ive-learned-building-nextjs-ap...
- chatmasta 8y ago
  I'm evaluating next.js for a new project. But coming from create-react-app, I'm a bit skeptical of these "frameworks" that seem to provide little benefit beyond developer tooling (i.e. setting up webpack, hot reload etc). create-react-app was great in the beginning, but months later was really annoying. I get the feeling next.js could end up like that. At least you can eject from CRA. I'm curious if anyone has gone the "roll your own" route with SSR + react, starting with a simple approach and adding complexity only as it becomes necessary. Has anyone done this and maybe also used next.js? I would love to hear a comparison, because at the moment I'm unconvinced next.js is really necessary if you know what you're doing, or you intend to maintain the project for more than 2 years.
  - davidjnelson 8y ago
    The spectrum chat team, which GitHub acquired, wrote that they wish they had started with next.js https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum/ https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum/
    - mxstbr 8y ago
      That's my blog post! If you have any questions let me know.
  - lioeters 8y ago
    I'd highly recommend trying out Next.js. Once you've got the framework-specific concepts, it's quite refreshing to base an app on. There are plenty of "escape hatches" to customize webpack, babel, server-side API, etc. That said, I don't use it much anymore - I rolled (and continue to use) my own SSR, adding features as I needed them: taking care of async server-side actions like fetching data; rendering the app; passing initial state to client; dynamic chunk-splitting of routes; a way to export all app routes to static files.. There are many moving parts and "tricks" I had to discover - like, how to bundle client/server bundles with webpack (chunk-split on client, all bundled together on server), creating script tags on server to fetch route-specific chunks faster on initial page load.. So, unless you're into understanding and building/customizing every feature, your time might be better spent letting Next.js provide all that as a foundation. It's well-organized and documented, so I think it would be valuable for teams working together also.
  - pcmaffey 8y ago
    I had that exact experience with Next. Ended up hating it for a variety of reasons (routing, file structure, build) and fortunately no longer have to support that project. Now I roll my own. I pre-render with react-snap, use react-imported-component for code-splitting and hydration. The pre-rendered static HTML pages are everybit as good as SSR. It adds an extra few seconds to the build process, but with Netlify's CI, I push to Github and its live once I'm back from the kitchen.

by mxstbr 8y ago

leerob 8y ago

Agreed. I'm a big fan of Next.js and haven't had any major problems with it. While there have been some quirks and nuances I had to learn[0] it still provides the easiest platform for SSR out of the box. [0]: https://leerob.io/blog/things-ive-learned-building-nextjs-apps/ https://leerob.io/blog/things-ive-learned-building-nextjs-ap...

chatmasta 8y ago
I'm evaluating next.js for a new project. But coming from create-react-app, I'm a bit skeptical of these "frameworks" that seem to provide little benefit beyond developer tooling (i.e. setting up webpack, hot reload etc). create-react-app was great in the beginning, but months later was really annoying. I get the feeling next.js could end up like that. At least you can eject from CRA. I'm curious if anyone has gone the "roll your own" route with SSR + react, starting with a simple approach and adding complexity only as it becomes necessary. Has anyone done this and maybe also used next.js? I would love to hear a comparison, because at the moment I'm unconvinced next.js is really necessary if you know what you're doing, or you intend to maintain the project for more than 2 years.
- davidjnelson 8y ago
  The spectrum chat team, which GitHub acquired, wrote that they wish they had started with next.js https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum/ https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum/
  - mxstbr 8y ago
    That's my blog post! If you have any questions let me know.
- lioeters 8y ago
  I'd highly recommend trying out Next.js. Once you've got the framework-specific concepts, it's quite refreshing to base an app on. There are plenty of "escape hatches" to customize webpack, babel, server-side API, etc. That said, I don't use it much anymore - I rolled (and continue to use) my own SSR, adding features as I needed them: taking care of async server-side actions like fetching data; rendering the app; passing initial state to client; dynamic chunk-splitting of routes; a way to export all app routes to static files.. There are many moving parts and "tricks" I had to discover - like, how to bundle client/server bundles with webpack (chunk-split on client, all bundled together on server), creating script tags on server to fetch route-specific chunks faster on initial page load.. So, unless you're into understanding and building/customizing every feature, your time might be better spent letting Next.js provide all that as a foundation. It's well-organized and documented, so I think it would be valuable for teams working together also.
- pcmaffey 8y ago
  I had that exact experience with Next. Ended up hating it for a variety of reasons (routing, file structure, build) and fortunately no longer have to support that project. Now I roll my own. I pre-render with react-snap, use react-imported-component for code-splitting and hydration. The pre-rendered static HTML pages are everybit as good as SSR. It adds an extra few seconds to the build process, but with Netlify's CI, I push to Github and its live once I'm back from the kitchen.