Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Grails

386
373
+ 1
333
Next.js

6.2K
4.6K
+ 1
322
Add tool

Grails vs Next.js: What are the differences?

  1. Language and Platform: Grails is built on top of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and uses the Groovy programming language, while Next.js is built on JavaScript and runs on Node.js. This difference in language and platform affects the development workflow and the type of applications that can be built using these frameworks.

  2. Architecture and Structure: Grails follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern for organizing code and separating concerns, whereas Next.js uses a file-based routing system that simplifies the creation of pages and components. This difference in architecture influences how developers structure their applications and manage the flow of data.

  3. Performance and Scalability: Grails, being built on the JVM, offers better performance and scalability for enterprise-level applications that require high reliability and speed. In contrast, Next.js, being a lightweight framework based on JavaScript, is more suitable for smaller projects and front-end development.

  4. Community and Ecosystem: Grails has a mature and established community with a wide range of plugins and libraries available for developers to use. Next.js, on the other hand, has a growing community and an ecosystem centered around React and the Node.js community, offering different sets of tools and resources.

  5. Deployment and Hosting: Grails applications are typically deployed on a traditional application server like Apache Tomcat or Jetty, while Next.js applications can be easily hosted on any server that supports Node.js. This difference in deployment options can impact the choice of hosting providers and the overall deployment process.

  6. Learning Curve and Documentation: Grails, with its Java and Groovy background, may have a steeper learning curve for developers who are not familiar with these languages. Next.js, being based on JavaScript, may be easier for front-end developers to pick up, with comprehensive documentation and resources available for learning.

In Summary, Grails and Next.js differ in language, architecture, performance, community, deployment, and learning curve, catering to different types of projects and developer preferences in web development.

Decisions about Grails and Next.js

We choose Next.js for our React framework because it's very minimal and has a very organized file structure. Also, it offers key features like zero setups, automatic server rendering and code splitting, typescript support. Our app requires some loading time to process the video, server-side rendering will allow our website to display faster than client-side rending.

See more

We’re a new startup so we need to be able to deliver quick changes as we find our product market fit. We’ve also got to ensure that we’re moving money safely, and keeping perfect records. The technologies we’ve chosen mix mature but well maintained frameworks like Django, with modern web-first and api-first front ends like GraphQL, NextJS, and Chakra. We use a little Golang sparingly in our backend to ensure that when we interact with financial services, we do so with statically compiled, strongly typed, and strictly limited and reviewed code.

You can read all about it in our linked blog post.

See more
Lucas Litton
Founder & CEO at Macombey · | 13 upvotes · 542.5K views

Next.js is probably the most enjoyable React framework our team could have picked. The development is an extremely smooth process, the file structure is beautiful and organized, and the speed is no joke. Our work with Next.js comes out much faster than if it was built on pure React or frameworks alike. We were previously developing all of our projects in Meteor before making the switch. We left Meteor due to the slow compiler and website speed. We deploy all of our Next.js projects on Vercel.

See more

Hey guys,

My backend set up is Prisma / GraphQL-Yoga at the moment, and I love it. It's so intuitive to learn and is really neat on the frontend too, however, there were a few gotchas when I was learning! Especially around understanding how it all pieces together (the stack). There isn't a great deal of information out there on exactly how to put into production my set up, which is a backend set up on a Digital Ocean droplet with Prisma/GraphQL Yoga in a Docker Container using Next & Apollo Client on the frontend somewhere else. It's such a niche subject, so I bet only a few hundred people have got a website with this stack in production. Anyway, I wrote a blog post to help those who might need help understanding it. Here it is, hope it helps!

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Grails
Pros of Next.js
  • 56
    Groovy
  • 40
    Jvm
  • 38
    Rapid development
  • 37
    Gorm
  • 30
    Web framework
  • 25
    Open source
  • 21
    Plugins
  • 17
    Extensible
  • 17
    Easy
  • 14
    Dynamic
  • 6
    Clean architecture (Dependency Injection)
  • 6
    Gradle
  • 5
    Clear what everything does, lots of options
  • 4
    RAD
  • 4
    Agile
  • 4
    Great documentation
  • 3
    Android
  • 3
    Spring
  • 2
    Easy setup
  • 1
    Java web apps with steroid
  • 49
    Automatic server rendering and code splitting
  • 43
    Built with React
  • 33
    Easy setup
  • 26
    TypeScript
  • 24
    Universal JavaScript
  • 22
    Zero setup
  • 21
    Static site generator
  • 12
    Simple deployment
  • 12
    Just JavaScript
  • 12
    Incremental static regeneration
  • 10
    Filesystem as an API
  • 10
    Frictionless development
  • 9
    Everything is a function
  • 9
    Well Documented
  • 8
    Has many examples and integrations
  • 8
    Testing
  • 7
    Isomorphic React applications
  • 4
    File based routing + hooks built in
  • 2
    Deployment
  • 1
    SEO

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Grails
Cons of Next.js
  • 3
    Frequent breaking changes
  • 2
    Undocumented features
  • 9
    Structure is weak compared to Angular(2+)

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is Grails?

Grails is a framework used to build web applications with the Groovy programming language. The core framework is very extensible and there are numerous plugins available that provide easy integration of add-on features.

What is Next.js?

Next.js is a minimalistic framework for server-rendered React applications.

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use Grails?
What companies use Next.js?
See which teams inside your own company are using Grails or Next.js.
Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

What tools integrate with Grails?
What tools integrate with Next.js?

Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

Blog Posts

What are some alternatives to Grails and Next.js?
Play
Play Framework makes it easy to build web applications with Java & Scala. Play is based on a lightweight, stateless, web-friendly architecture. Built on Akka, Play provides predictable and minimal resource consumption (CPU, memory, threads) for highly-scalable applications.
Rails
Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.
Groovy
It is a powerful multi-faceted programming language for the JVM platform. It supports a spectrum of programming styles incorporating features from dynamic languages such as optional and duck typing, but also static compilation and static type checking at levels similar to or greater than Java through its extensible static type checker. It aims to greatly increase developer productivity with many powerful features but also a concise, familiar and easy to learn syntax.
Spring Boot
Spring Boot makes it easy to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring based Applications that you can "just run". We take an opinionated view of the Spring platform and third-party libraries so you can get started with minimum fuss. Most Spring Boot applications need very little Spring configuration.
Spring
A key element of Spring is infrastructural support at the application level: Spring focuses on the "plumbing" of enterprise applications so that teams can focus on application-level business logic, without unnecessary ties to specific deployment environments.
See all alternatives