From Spring Boot to Next.js: A Developer’s Perspective
Since I started my journey as a developer a couple of years ago, I have been mostly positioned in enterprise projects and have grown increasingly comfortable with the classic Java Spring Boot stack. Over time, I have learned about the strengths and challenges of building performant backend systems and have also managed to grow through the classic bugs a junior developer often produces.
Recently, however, I felt it was time to expand my knowledge beyond the Java ecosystem. Since we at & have many different projects with different tech stacks, I noticed more and more projects using a framework called Next.js. The popularity and seemingly very versatile tooling started to pique my interest.
The question of the differences between the two frameworks as well as the strengths and weaknesses of both started to pop into my head, and so I began to delve deeper into the topic of Next.js. Since I wanted to expand my knowledge anyway, and documenting my findings helped my learning journey, I saw the perfect opportunity to combine those two with this blog post. So, if you are a Java developer like me looking to expand your knowledge or maybe are new to both frameworks, I hope this blog post will offer a high-level insight into the two frameworks and teach you about some use cases as well as potential drawbacks each of these frameworks carries with them.
What Makes Next.js Stand Out?
Before we start comparing both frameworks, let’s start with what sets Next.js apart and what some of its key features are that helped it gain popularity over time:
1. Combining Frontend and Backend via JavaScript/TypeScript
The first selling point is that you can use one language to build full-stack applications. This makes it easier to streamline the development process because switching from frontend to backend code does not require you to rethink syntax or paradigm shifts. Whether you are building APIs or UI Components, using the same language for all these different layers of an application makes the development cycle much more efficient.
2. Variety of Rendering Strategies
Next.js offers a variety of rendering methods: Server-Side Rendering (SSR), Static Site Generation (SSG), Client Side Rendering (CSR), and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR). However, SSR and SSG are arguably the most important options, so I will focus on these two. SSG allows you to pre-render a page’s content at build time. Since pages are already rendered on the server ahead of time, users don’t need to wait for it to happen on demand but instead get the completed HTML ready for display. This leads to very fast load times, which is essential for user engagement and improving a website’s search engine optimization (SEO) ranking. The second most common rendering strategy, SSR, is quite similar to SSG since both generate pages on the server. The critical difference with SSR is when the rendering happens. Compared to SSG, the rendering with SSR happens at request time. This makes sure when a user requests a page the latest data will be displayed. Compared to SSG, SSR is notably slower but can always ensure that up-to-date information is displayed. This hybrid approach gives developers the flexibility to choose the best rendering method based on their specific use case.
3. Page And Api-Routing
On the topic of routing, Next.js offers features for both the frontend and the backend. On the frontend Next.js constructs views based on the file structure, without any configurations necessary. You place your “page.tsx” file in a directory (with the corresponding name of the route) in the app folder, and the routing is taken care of. On the side of the backend features, Next.js also offers an easy way to construct API endpoints. By using route handlers you can place ‘route.ts | js’ files in the app folder, and define server functions that handle different HTTP methods, which allows you to easily manage server requests and responses. This makes it very convenient to set up basic server functionality like accessing databases or processing forms.
The server functions defined in your route.ts files run in a standard Node.js environment by default, which works perfectly well when containerizing and deploying your application in Azure, for example. When deployed on Vercel, though, Next.js can use the serverless architecture, allowing the backend functions to run stateless and automatically scale, reducing the need for manual resource management, which in the containerized example would still be necessary.
4. Rich Ecosystem and Community
Finally, the Next.js ecosystem is expanding and thriving. The framework is constantly enhanced with new features, and thanks to Vercel’s support, this process is highly likely to continue. Next.js provides a multitude of tools, third-party libraries, and plugins to further expand its capabilities. In addition, Next.js is a React-based framework, so all of the libraries and tools from the React ecosystem can be used as well.
With these characteristics, Next.js has become popular among developers who want to build scalable, fast, and effective web applications. These advantages will come into play when we compare Next.js vs. Spring Boot in greater detail to determine which framework better suits a given project’s requirements.
Next.js and Spring Boot: Which Framework Suits Your Needs?
This part delves into a comparative analysis of the two frameworks. Before we begin the comparison across various dimensions, we will start with a short introduction to Spring Boot since we already discussed the key features of Next.js in the previous chapter.
Overview of Spring Boot
Pivotal Software released Spring Boot, an extension of the Java-based Spring framework, in 2014. To enable fast development of production-ready applications, Spring Boot offers a convention-over-configuration approach, pre-configuring sensible defaults, which speeds up the development process. Spring Boot is a potent choice for enterprise-level applications, as it is built on top of the comprehensive Spring ecosystem, which includes components for security, data access, messaging, easy-to-use cloud configuration, and more.
Spring Boot is particularly well-suited for backend development, as it provides comprehensive support for developing large-scale enterprise systems, RESTful APIs, and microservices. It is particularly effective in environments where highly scalable, secure, and maintainable backend services are required. Due to its good community support and extensive ecosystem, Spring Boot has emerged as the preferred framework for developers who are developing intricate, business-critical applications in sectors such as finance and healthcare.
1. Core Focus and Philosophy
Next.js
One of Next.js’s fundamental design goals is to improve the frontend development experience. Its philosophy is all about showcasing that developers can build performant, user-friendly web applications fast and with very little configuring. Next.js simplifies the development process by abstracting away a significant portion of the complexity associated with server-side rendering, static site creation, and code splitting. This allows developers to focus on building features rather than managing boilerplate code or configuring infrastructure.
Next.js is built on the “zero-config” concept, which by default includes certain efficiency improvements and recommended practices. This covers route pre-fetching, image optimization, and automated code separation.
Furthermore, Next.js promotes the notion of developing ‘universal’ or ‘isomorphic’ applications that allow the same code to run on the client and the server, providing a consistent development experience throughout the stack.
The framework is purposefully developed to cater to the requirements of modern web applications, where importance is given to improving developer productivity, SEO, and performance. By integrating frontend and backend capabilities (such as API routes) in a single framework, Next.js enables developers to manage the entire application lifecycle — from development to deployment — without needing to rely on a separate backend framework. This holistic approach aligns with the trend towards full-stack JavaScript development, where frontend and backend logic are handled in a unified environment.
Spring Boot
On the other hand, Spring Boot was designed with enterprise software development practices in mind. It uses the extensive feature-rich infrastructure of the Spring framework to build highly robust, scalable, and secure backend services. Spring Boot shares similarities with the “zero config” concept found in Next.js by providing a configured setup that minimizes the requirement for manual configuration and speeds up the development of Java-based applications.
The primary distinction, between the two “zero config” approaches lies in the fact that Next.js prioritizes minimalism and straightforwardness, compared to Spring Boot’s emphasis on convention over configuration, which configures defaults but still leaves room for a lot of customization. Spring Boot offers customization, for example, through property files, annotations, and custom configuration classes. Developers can set up an environment swiftly and effortlessly while retaining the flexibility to activate advanced features of the Spring Framework when necessary. The framework aims to cater to the needs of business applications by offering functionalities such as dependency injection, security management, transaction handling, and seamless integration with enterprise technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
Spring Boot emphasizes stability, security, and integration with a mature ecosystem supporting database management, messaging systems, and cloud services. As a result, business-critical systems requiring reliability and ease of maintenance find Spring Boot particularly suitable.
2. Use Cases
Next.js- MVP Projects: Developers can leverage Next.js to build MVP (Minimum Viable Product) projects, where speed and efficiency are essential. The ability to handle both frontend and backend logic in a single framework makes it ideal for quickly iterating and testing product ideas. By leveraging API routes for backend functionality, developers can avoid needing a separate backend framework, simplifying the architecture and accelerating the development process.
- Dynamic Websites and Web Applications: Next.js is a great choice for building websites and web applications that need an engaging user interface, such as e-commerce sites, dashboards, and social media platforms. Its ability to leverage both client-side and server-side rendering lets developers enhance performance and deliver a seamless user experience.
- Content-Driven Websites: Websites focused on content, like blogs or news sites, benefit from Next.js, as it supports Static Site Generation (SSG).
Spring Boot
- Microservices Architecture: Spring Boot is highly effective for building microservices, which are independent services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled separately. This architecture is ideal for large organizations that must create scalable, modular applications that can evolve without affecting other parts of the system.
- Integration with Legacy Systems; Numerous businesses depend on legacy systems that must be integrated with modern applications. Spring Boot’s robust backing for a range of enterprise technologies (such as messaging queues, databases, and transaction management) makes it a good option for projects that require seamless integration with existing infrastructure.
- Cloud-Native Applications: Spring Boot is well-suited for creating cloud-native applications that can be deployed on platforms like Kubernetes or cloud services like AWS and Azure. Its ability to support microservices, containerization, and cloud deployment has made it a preferred choice for companies embracing cloud-centric approaches.
3. Potential Drawbacks and Limitations
Next.js:
- Limited Backend Capabilities: Next.js is mainly presented as a frontend framework. Although it provides some backend functionality, like API routes, these features are somewhat restricted compared to Spring Boot. When dealing with operations like complex data processing, sophisticated server-side tasks, or scheduled tasks such as cron jobs, Next.js alone might not suffice. The lack of native support for long-running processes and cron jobs necessitates reliance on external services or the integration of additional backend frameworks to handle such responsibilities. This might result in integrating additional backend services alongside Next.js, potentially complicating the project.
- Scalability Challenges (Server-Side Rendering Overhead): Even though SSR offers applications potential performance increases and better SEO rankings, it can also introduce scalability issues. Since every request needs to be rendered on the server first, increasing the load on the server can result in a potential performance bottleneck, especially for applications with high traffic. This requires effective management of these loads and occasionally requires investing in a more robust infrastructure, which could come at a considerable cost.
- Complexity in Hybrid Rendering (Balancing SSR, SSG, CSR, ISR): Next.js allows developers to use a combination of Server-Side Rendering (SSR), Static Site Generation (SSG), Client-Side Rendering (CSR) and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR). This versatility is powerful but can also bring challenges in maintaining a consistent rendering strategy throughout the application. Making mistakes or choosing inappropriate rendering methods could result in performance issues or inconsistent user experiences.
Spring Boot:
- Limited Frontend Integration: Compared to frameworks like Next.js, where frontend and backend code can be managed in a single environment, Spring Boot mainly focuses on backend development. Though it can be used to create powerful backend APIs that handle complex tasks, connecting the Spring Boot application to a modern frontend build with React, Vue, or Angular requires additional configuration and integration work.
- Heavyweight and Resource-Intensive: Spring Boot applications can consume many resources, especially memory, and CPU usage can become problematic. This can partly be attributed to the powerful but sometimes heavy features the Spring ecosystem has to offer. This can also often result in slow startup times if the application uses many dependencies and modules or the dependency management is not correctly handled. For small projects or those with limited resources, Spring Boot could exceed the resources and cause additional overhead, which could be avoided by choosing a more lightweight stack.
- Complex Configuration for Advanced Features: While the customization options for Spring Boot are great, extensive customization of advanced features like transaction management, security configurations, or cache management can often drastically increase the complexity of a codebase, which forces new developers to also be able to manage and maintain these numbers of settings. This can often lead to drastic decreases in the speed of the development cycle and the introduction of bugs.
Closing Thoughts: Choosing the Right Framework
Delving deeper into the world of Next.js and comparing it to my previous comfort pick, Spring Boot offered me an interesting insight into the different approaches these two frameworks take. Spring Boot focuses on its backend capabilities and shines in the enterprise world by providing out-of-the-box solutions for common requirements like security or cloud integration. Still, it needs to catch up regarding ease of use and the convenience Next.js offers through its unified development experience. Choosing a framework often revolves around making trade-offs; by choosing speed of development with Next.js, for example, you lose the ability to use a wide variety of customization and backend functionalities that Spring Boot has to offer. But when the main goal is shipping your application as fast as possible or using various rendering methods and optimizing SEO will greatly benefit your project, Spring Boot would probably be the worse choice.
It’s Time to Build
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