Getting started with Next.js: A step-by-step guide for beginners

Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash

Getting started with Next.js: A step-by-step guide for beginners

Next.js is a powerful framework for building server-rendered React applications. It is a user-friendly framework that enables the creation of websites, web applications, and blogs with ease. If you are a beginner to this technology, you can learn to use Next.js with this comprehensive guide that provides a step-by-step approach to get you started.

Also, if you're curious about how Next.js stacks up against other popular frameworks like Angular, be sure to check out my other blog post that compares Next JS vs Angular. This way, you can determine which one best suits your needs before diving into the world of web development.

Step 1: Create a new Next.js project

You need to create a new Next.js project. You can do this by executing the following command:

npx create-next-app my-app

This will create a new Next.js project in the my-app directory.

Step 2: Run the development server

Once you've created your new project, you can run the development server by running the following command in your terminal:

cd my-app
npm run dev

This will start the development server and open your Next.js app in your web browser. You can now start building your app!

Step 3: Create your first Next.js page

Next.js provides a simple way to create pages. To create your first page, you can create a new file in the pages directory with the .js extension. For example, create a new file called index.js in the pages directory.

In this file, you can create a new React component and export it as the default export. This component will be used to render your page. For example:

import React from 'react'

const IndexPage = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome to my Next.js app!</h1>
    </div>
  )
}

export default IndexPage

Step 4: Add styling to your Next.js app

Next.js supports many ways to add styling to your app. You can use CSS, SASS, or even CSS-in-JS solutions like styled-components. For example, to add a simple CSS file to your app, you can create a new file called styles.css in the public directory and include it in your page like this:

import React from 'react'
import '../public/styles.css'

const IndexPage = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome to my Next.js app!</h1>
      <p className="description">This is my first Next.js app.</p>
    </div>
  )
}

export default IndexPage

Congratulations, you've now built your first Next.js app!

In this guide, we've covered the basics of getting started with Next.js. However, there's a lot more to learn. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to check out the official Next.js documentation and explore some of the more advanced topics like data fetching, static site generation, and dynamic routes.