When it comes to creating new React projects in 2020, there are two clear options. NextJS, or Create-React-App. Gatsby has fallen out of favour. Due to slow builds at scale, and NextJS becoming the better static site generator.

Let’s go over the advantages and disadvantages of NextJS and Create-React-App. We will also cover which use cases and scenarios are better suited for one over the other.

Create-React-App

Create-React-App is a boilerplate that allows us to scaffold new React applications. It keeps dependencies like webpack and babel inside of react-scripts. Removingthe complexity and difficulty of working with transpilers and bundlers.

This means that updating those “hidden” dependencies is a snap. Wait for a new release of react-scripts, and update. No need to mess around with fixing breaking changes to our webpack configuration.

Advantages of using Create-React-App

It’s unopinionated.

You’re welcome to use whichever libraries you like, there are no rules or recommendations. You can use whichever routing library you prefer.

It’s rendered client-side.

Since we render Create-React-Apps on the client-side, deployment is easy. You can host your application on any file host, like S3. Client rendered apps are easier to work with and easier to reason about.

#frontend #nextjs #javascript #programming #react