Overview

Node.js

Stacks193.4K

Followers164.5K

Votes8.5K

GitHub Stars114.1K

Forks33.7K

Next.js

Stacks7.2K

Followers5.1K

Votes328

GitHub Stars135.4K

Forks29.7K

Next.js vs Node.js: What are the differences?

Next.js and Node.js are two popular technologies in the web development world, but they serve different purposes and have distinct features. Here are the key differences between Next.js and Node.js:

Server-side rendering (SSR) vs. runtime environment: Next.js is a framework built on top of Node.js that offers server-side rendering capabilities. It allows developers to render pages on the server before sending them to the client, resulting in faster initial page load times and better SEO. On the other hand, Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that enables server-side and network application development. It is ideal for building scalable and efficient backend applications.
Routing and navigation: Next.js provides an out-of-the-box routing system that simplifies navigation between pages. It offers automatic code splitting by routing, making it easier to load only the necessary components for each page. In contrast, Node.js does not have built-in routing capabilities, and developers typically rely on external libraries or frameworks like Express.js to handle routing and navigation.
Client-side rendering (CSR) vs. server-side rendering: Next.js supports both client-side rendering (CSR) and server-side rendering (SSR), giving developers the flexibility to choose the rendering method based on specific use cases. On the other hand, Node.js primarily focuses on building APIs and handling server-side logic, which often involves client-side rendering through JavaScript frameworks like React or Angular.
Code organization and file structure: Next.js provides a predefined folder structure and conventions for organizing code. It encourages the use of components and offers a straightforward way to manage assets, routes, and stylesheets. Node.js, being a runtime environment, does not enforce any specific code organization standards, allowing developers to choose the structure that suits their project.
Static site generation (SSG): Next.js supports static site generation (SSG), which allows developers to pre-render pages at build time, resulting in faster load times and improved performance for static content. This approach is beneficial for websites with mostly static content, such as blogs or documentation. Node.js, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for static site generation and is more commonly used for building dynamic web applications.
Development ecosystem: Next.js has its own development ecosystem, including a set of predefined configurations, libraries, and plugins that make it easier to build and deploy applications. It integrates well with popular frameworks like React and provides a seamless development experience. Node.js, being a runtime environment, has a vast ecosystem with a wide range of libraries and frameworks that can be used for building various types of applications.

In summary, Next.js is a framework built on top of Node.js that provides server-side rendering capabilities, out-of-the-box routing, and static site generation. It is ideal for building highly optimized and SEO-friendly web applications. On the other hand, Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that enables server-side and network application development, making it suitable for building scalable backend applications and APIs.

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Advice on Node.js, Next.js

abderrahmane

Mar 12, 2020

Needs advice

I am a front-end guy and in the last month I've been trynig to be learn backend in python. I think python is a great language to but when i start to learn django I didn't like it because everythong is already done for you, you dont need to do much make it works and I like coding thing that take me time. I've been thinking about switching to another programing language or just learn Node js and stick with it. I need to know if django is that easy.

136k views136k

Comments

Mohammad

Oct 28, 2019

Needs adviceon

Node.js

Laravel

PHP

I want to create a video sharing service like Youtube, which users can use to upload and watch videos. I prefer to use Vue.js for front-end. What do you suggest for the back-end? @{Node.js}|tool:1011| or @{Laravel}|tool:992| ( @{PHP}|tool:991| ) I need a good performance with high speed, and the most important thing is the ability to handle user's requests if the site's traffic increases. I want to create an algorithm that users who watch others videos earn points (randomly but in clear context) If you have anything else to improve, please let me know. For eg: If you prefer React to Vue.js. Thanks in advance

309k views309k

Comments

Zubair

Director at Aafiyah Technologies

Mar 12, 2020

Needs advice

Hi Team

I want your suggestions in order for me to decide which stack is suitable for the below-mentioned requirement.

Currently, I am considering building it in Wordpress (Starting with prebuilt plugins and develop on it)

But I am skeptical, so I am considering Laravel.

And recently I found one very good solution built in Angular, Node and MySQL

Here are the high-level goals I am trying to achieve:

The system has 3 modules

Multi-Vendor e-commerce Market Place
Peer to peer Selling of used items
Listing/ Directory kind of portal for the service industry

290k views290k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Node.js	Next.js
Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.	Next.js is a minimalistic framework for server-rendered React applications.
-	Zero setup. Use the filesystem as an API; Only JavaScript. Everything is a function; Automatic server rendering and code splitting; Data fetching is up to the developer; Anticipation is the key to performance; Simple deployment
Statistics
GitHub Stars 114.1K	GitHub Stars 135.4K
GitHub Forks 33.7K	GitHub Forks 29.7K
Stacks 193.4K	Stacks 7.2K
Followers 164.5K	Followers 5.1K
Votes 8.5K	Votes 328
Pros & Cons
Pros 1439 Npm 1279 Javascript 1129 Great libraries 1012 High-performance 805 Open source Cons 46 Bound to a single CPU 45 New framework every day 40 Lots of terrible examples on the internet 33 Asynchronous programming is the worst 24 Callback	Pros 51 Automatic server rendering and code splitting 44 Built with React 34 Easy setup 26 TypeScript 24 Universal JavaScript Cons 9 Structure is weak compared to Angular(2+)
Integrations
No integrations available	React

What are some alternatives to Node.js, Next.js?

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.

Django

Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.

Laravel

It is a web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. It attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions, and caching.

.NET

.NET is a general purpose development platform. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build native applications for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and more.

ASP.NET Core

A free and open-source web framework, and higher performance than ASP.NET, developed by Microsoft and the community. It is a modular framework that runs on both the full .NET Framework, on Windows, and the cross-platform .NET Core.

Symfony

It is written with speed and flexibility in mind. It allows developers to build better and easy to maintain websites with PHP..

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.

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.

Android SDK

Android provides a rich application framework that allows you to build innovative apps and games for mobile devices in a Java language environment.

Phoenix Framework

Phoenix is a framework for building HTML5 apps, API backends and distributed systems. Written in Elixir, you get beautiful syntax, productive tooling and a fast runtime.