NextJS boasts of great server-side rendering (SSR) capabilities out of the box. However, to ensure your application uses this feature optimally, you must be mindful of several factors. Excessive data fetches in your getServerSideProps or getInitialProps, for instance, can significantly slow your application. Each external API call affects your SSR performance. Therefore, consider reducing the number of calls by implementing server-side caching. This can substantially cut down the load times and enhance the overall speed of your application.
Furthermore, optimizing your database queries is crucial. ORM solutions like Prisma, often used with NextJS, can help developers write efficient and secure SQL queries. If you're not careful, though, you may end up with excessive database load, leading to slow SSR. So, remember to optimize your queries to only fetch the data necessary for rendering and minimize joins where possible.
Code Splitting and Bundling
NextJS uses automated code splitting, meaning each page only loads what it needs. Despite that, developers have to be mindful of how they structure their code. Keeping files small and using dynamic imports can enhance load times by reducing the size of the JavaScript bundle your browser has to load.
Webpack, the bundler that NextJS uses behind the scenes, offers numerous plugins and loaders to help optimize your code. The TerserPlugin, for instance, can minify your JavaScript files, while the CompressionPlugin can compress them into Gzip or Brotli format for faster transmission.
Consider analyzing your bundles using tools like 'webpack-bundle-analyzer' to detect any issues. If you find large libraries significantly affecting your performance, consider searching for lighter alternatives or dynamically importing them only when necessary.
Optimizing Static Assets
NextJS is excellent at optimizing JavaScript, but that's only half the battle. The other half involves optimizing your static assets, such as images, CSS, and fonts.
For images, NextJS provides an Image component and Automatic Image Optimization features. Utilizing these tools can significantly reduce the impact of images on your application's performance. For CSS and fonts, optimisation can be achieved by inline critical CSS, asynchronous load non-critical CSS, and use modern font loading strategies.
By implementing these practical tips, you can significantly enhance the performance of your NextJS applications. However, the process requires time, testing, and continual adjustments. For a quick route to a high-performance NextJS app, consider using a boilerplate like PullTheCode.
PullTheCode is designed to cut down development time by providing essential features like SEO & blog integration, Stripe payments, optimized SQL queries with Prisma, SSO support with PassportJS, and Google Analytics integration. Furthermore, PullTheCode offers weekly updates, ensuring your NextJS applications are always using the most updated and optimized code. Before spending hours trying to optimize your Next.js application, give PullTheCode a try - it could just be the performance boost your application needs!