Switched to Next.js
By Anders Olsen Sandvik on
In the fast-paced world of web development, it's crucial to choose the right tools and technologies that can empower us to create dynamic and efficient websites. As a blogger, I have always strived to deliver a seamless user experience while maintaining the flexibility to experiment with new technology. After using Eleventy for a while, I realized that it didn't quite meet my evolving needs. In search of a more powerful and flexible solution, I embarked on a journey of migrating my blog to Next.js. Join me as I share the reasons behind my decision and the benefits I've gained from this transition.
The Need for Power and Flexibility: Eleventy is undoubtedly a fantastic static site generator that offers simplicity and speed. However, as my blog started to grow, I found myself yearning for more dynamic capabilities. Next.js, a React-based framework, seemed like the perfect fit due to its robustness and flexibility. Its ability to render both server-side and client-side, combined with features like data fetching, routing, and code splitting, enticed me to explore this powerful alternative. Especially considering the alternative being markdown files that are not as powerful as React that I use everyday.
Enhanced Server-Side Rendering (SSR): One of the main advantages of Next.js over Eleventy is its built-in server-side rendering capabilities. SSR allows me to fetch data from external APIs or databases at build time or on each request, ensuring that my content is always up to date. This dynamic rendering greatly improves the user experience, providing real-time data and enabling interaction with the site without relying mostly on client-side rendering.
Seamless Routing and Code Splitting: Next.js takes care of routing effortlessly, offering a convenient and intuitive system for handling different pages and routes. With Eleventy, managing complex routing structures required additional effort and customization. Next.js simplifies the process, allowing me to focus more on creating engaging content rather than worrying about manual routing configurations. Additionally, Next.js incorporates automatic code splitting, optimizing the performance by loading only the required JavaScript for each page, resulting in faster load times.
React and Component-based Development: As a React-based framework, Next.js leverages the power of reusable components and provides a vast ecosystem of React libraries and tools. This enables me to build highly interactive and responsive user interfaces with ease. By transitioning to Next.js, I gained access to React's extensive community and its ever-growing collection of pre-built components and utilities.
Developer Experience and Community Support: The Next.js community is incredibly active, constantly sharing best practices, solving problems, and providing valuable insights. The framework itself is widely adopted, ensuring continuous development and improvement. The availability of comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and examples further enhances the developer experience, enabling me to troubleshoot issues and implement new features efficiently.
Migrating my blog from Eleventy to Next.js was undoubtedly a transformative decision. The transition unlocked new levels of power and flexibility, empowering me to create a more dynamic and engaging user experience. Next.js' built-in server-side rendering, seamless routing, code splitting, and React's component-based development approach have elevated my blogging capabilities to new heights. Furthermore, being part of a thriving and supportive community has given me confidence in my choice and ensures continued growth and development. If you're seeking a robust and flexible solution for your website or blog, I highly recommend considering Next.js as an ideal platform to unlock your full potential. When I noticed the hobby plan from Vercel included cookie free tracking I will be migrating from Netlify to Vercel as well.