Next.

Js

Interview Questions
Question 1 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is Next.js?

A: Next.js is a React framework developed by Vercel that provides infrastructure for server-rendered
React applications. It includes features such as server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG),
file-system based routing, and API routes. It's designed to be a comprehensive solution for building
production-ready, highly scalable, and SEO-friendly React applications.

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Question 2 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are the key features of Next.js?

A: Key features of Next.js include: server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), automatic
code splitting, file-system based routing, API routes, hot code reloading, built-in CSS and Sass
support, image optimization, automatic TypeScript support, and a development environment with hot
module replacement.

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Question 3 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the difference between Next.js and React.js?

A: React.js is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, mainly for single-page applications. It
allows for building reusable UI components. Next.js is a framework built on top of React that provides
additional functionality like server-side rendering, static site generation, routing, and API routes that
aren't available in React out of the box. Next.js essentially provides a more comprehensive solution while
React focuses on UI components.

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Question 4 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the difference between Next.js and Create React App?

A: Create React App is a client-side rendering app generator, meaning all rendering takes place in the
client's browser. Next.js, on the other hand, is a more complete framework offering server-side
rendering, static site generation, and file-system based routing. While Create React App is focused on
simplifying the setup of React applications, Next.js provides additional production-ready features
with better SEO capabilities.

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Question 5 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How is Next.js different from Gatsby?

A: Next.js is a framework for server-rendered React applications with both SSR and SSG capabilities,
while Gatsby is primarily a static site generator. Gatsby is great for static websites with content from various
sources, while Next.js offers more flexibility for dynamic applications and server-rendered content.
Next.js can better handle frequently changing data and larger-scale applications.

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Question 6 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is server-side rendering (SSR) in Next.js?

A: Server-side rendering is a technique where the server renders the web page and sends the fully
rendered HTML to the client. Next.js provides optimized server-side rendering, allowing the initial page
load to have all the necessary HTML content available immediately. This improves performance and SEO as
search engines can easily index the content, and users don't have to wait for JavaScript to load and
execute to see the page content.

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Question 7 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is static site generation (SSG) in Next.js?

A: Static Site Generation is the pre-rendering of pages at build time. The pre-rendered HTML pages
are then reused on each request. Next.js supports this with the getStaticProps and
getStaticPaths functions. SSG is useful when the content doesn't need to be updated in real-time or
very frequently, as it provides excellent performance and can be cached by CDNs.

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Question 8 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) in Next.js?

A: Incremental Static Regeneration allows you to update existing statically generated pages by
re-rendering them in the background as traffic comes in. With ISR, you can create static pages with
getStaticProps and set a revalidate property to specify how frequently the page should be regenerated.
This gives you the benefits of static generation while keeping content fresh without rebuilding the entire site.

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Question 9 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How does file-based routing work in Next.js?

A: Next.js has a file-system based router built on the concept of pages. When a file is added to the
pages directory, it's automatically available as a route. The path to the file becomes the URL path. For
example, if you create a file at pages/about.js, it will be accessible at yoursite.com/about. This
eliminates the need for a separate routing configuration.

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Question 10 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are dynamic routes in Next.js and how do you create them?

A: Dynamic routes allow you to create pages with paths that depend on external data. You can create
dynamic routes by adding brackets [] around a segment of the filename in the pages directory. For example,
pages/posts/[id].js would match /posts/1, /posts/2, etc. The dynamic segments are available in the
query property of the page components, or as parameters in getStaticPaths and
getServerSideProps.

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Question 11 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the purpose of the _app.js file in Next.js?

A: _app.js is a custom App component used to initialize pages. You can override it to control page
initialization. This allows you to do things like persist layout between page changes, keep state when
navigating pages, add global CSS, handle errors, and inject additional data into pages.

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Question 12 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the purpose of the _document.js file in Next.js?

A: _document.js is used to augment your application's <html> and <body> tags. This is necessary
because Next.js pages skip the definition of the surrounding document's markup. This file is only rendered
on the server, so event handlers like onClick cannot be used in _document.

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Question 13 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are API Routes in Next.js?

A: API Routes allow you to create API endpoints inside a Next.js application by creating files in the
pages/api directory. These are serverless functions that run on the server-side and don't increase
the client-side bundle size. They're great for handling form submissions, database operations,
authentication, and other server-side operations.

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Question 14 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is getInitialProps in Next.js?

A: getInitialProps is a legacy async static method in Next.js that fetches data on the server and
passes it as props to the page component. It enables server-side rendering but runs on both server and
client when navigating between pages. For newer applications, it's recommended to use
getServerSideProps or getStaticProps instead.

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Question 15 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is getStaticProps in Next.js?

A: getStaticProps is a Next.js data fetching method that runs at build time in production and allows
your page to fetch data ahead of time. The fetched data is then used to pre-render the page as static
HTML, which can be cached and reused for each request, improving performance.

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Question 16 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is getServerSideProps in Next.js?

A: getServerSideProps is a Next.js data fetching method that runs on every request on the
server-side. It fetches data for a page and passes it as props to the component. This is useful for pages
where data changes frequently and you need the latest data on each request.

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Question 17 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the difference between getStaticProps and

getServerSideProps?

A: getStaticProps generates static HTML at build time and reuses it on each request, making it faster
but potentially stale. getServerSideProps generates server-side rendered HTML on each request,
providing always fresh data but potentially slower performance. Choose based on how frequently your data
changes and your performance requirements.

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Question 18 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you handle CSS in Next.js?

A: Next.js has built-in support for CSS and Sass which allows you to import .css and .scss files
directly in your components. It supports CSS Modules which automatically scope CSS to components,
global CSS import in _app.js, and CSS-in-JS solutions like styled-jsx, styled-components, and
emotion.

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Question 19 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the Image component in Next.js and why is it useful?

A: The Image component (next/image) is a extension of the HTML img element that provides automatic
image optimization. It automatically serves images in modern formats (WebP), resizes images to avoid
shipping large images to small viewports, lazy loads images by default (loading them only when they enter
the viewport), and applies best practices for Core Web Vitals and performance.

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Question 20 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How does Next.js handle error pages?

A: Next.js has built-in error handling with default error pages. You can customize these by creating a _
error.js file (for general errors) or a 404.js file (for not found errors) in the pages directory. These files
are React components that will be displayed when the corresponding error occurs.

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Question 21 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How to deploy a Next.js application?

A: You can deploy a Next.js application on any hosting provider that supports Node.js. The easiest way
is to use Vercel (created by the same team behind Next.js), which offers optimized deployment with
features like automatic HTTPS, global CDN, and analytics. Alternatives include Netlify, AWS Amplify, or
traditional hosting where you build the app (npm run build) and then start the server (npm start).

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Question 22 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How can you optimize performance in Next.js?

A: Next.js automatically optimizes applications through code splitting, image optimization, and automatic
static optimization. You can further improve performance by using appropriate data fetching methods (SSG
over SSR when possible), implementing ISR for semi-dynamic content, using the Image component,
leveraging the Link component for prefetching, minimizing JavaScript with production builds, and
using the Next.js Analyzer to identify large bundles.

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Question 23 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is SWR in Next.js?

A: SWR (stale-while-revalidate) is a React Hooks library for data fetching created by the Vercel
team. It returns cached data first (stale), then sends the fetch request (revalidate), and finally updates
the data with the latest values. SWR features include automatic revalidation, focus tracking, error retries, and
support for real-time data. It's commonly used with Next.js for client-side data fetching.

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Question 24 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you add environment variables in Next.js?

A: You can add environment variables in Next.js by creating a .env.local file in the root of your project.
Next.js automatically loads environment variables from this file. By default, environment variables are only
available in Node.js environment. To expose variables to the browser, prefix them with NEXT_PUBLIC_.
You can also use .env.development and .env.production for environment-specific variables.

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beginner.
Question 25 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you enable TypeScript in Next.js?

A: To enable TypeScript in Next.js, you need to install TypeScript and then create a
tsconfig.json file in your project root. Next.js will automatically populate this file with default values.
After that, you can create pages with .tsx extension and use TypeScript in your components. Next.js
provides built-in TypeScript types for its APIs and components.

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Question 26 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you enable a custom webpack configuration in Next.js?

A: Next.js allows for custom webpack configuration by creating a next.config.js file in the root directory.
This file should export an object with a webpack property that is a function. This function receives
the default webpack configuration which you can modify and return. This allows you to add loaders,
plugins, or modify any webpack behavior.

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Question 27 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the 'Link' component in Next.js?

A: The Link component from 'next/link' is a React component for client-side navigation between
routes in Next.js applications. It wraps anchor tags and provides functionality like prefetching pages in the
background for faster navigation. Using Link prevents full page refreshes, maintaining application state
and providing a smoother user experience compared to regular anchor tags.

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Question 28 of 50 Next.Js

Q: Can you use Next.js with a backend other than Node.js?

A: Yes, you can use Next.js with any backend or no backend at all. While Next.js itself runs on
Node.js, you can make API calls to any backend service (REST, GraphQL, etc.). You can either use
Next.js API routes as a proxy to your backend or connect directly from the client-side. Next.js is
backend-agnostic and works well with services written in any language.

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Question 29 of 50 Next.Js

Q: Can you use GraphQL with Next.js?

A: Yes, you can use GraphQL with Next.js. You can add any GraphQL client library like Apollo Client or
urql to communicate with a GraphQL server. You could also create a GraphQL server inside Next.js using
API routes with libraries like Apollo Server. GraphQL can be used with any of Next.js's data fetching
methods like getStaticProps or getServerSideProps.

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Question 30 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How does Next.js handle SEO?

A: Next.js is excellent for SEO because it supports server-side rendering and static site generation,
allowing search engines to easily crawl and index content. You can add meta tags using the Head
component from next/head to customize page titles, descriptions, and other metadata. Next.js also
supports generating sitemaps and robots.txt files through plugins or custom API routes.

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Question 31 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is Automatic Static Optimization in Next.js?

A: Automatic Static Optimization is a feature in Next.js where it automatically determines which pages can
be pre-rendered as static HTML at build time. If a page doesn't have blocking data requirements (no
getServerSideProps or getInitialProps), Next.js will automatically statically optimize it, generating
HTML files that can be cached by CDNs for better performance.

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Question 32 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you prefetch pages in Next.js?

A: Next.js automatically prefetches pages linked by the Link component when they appear in the
viewport. This happens in production only and makes navigating to linked pages almost instant. You can
also manually control prefetching behavior using the prefetch prop on the Link component, or use the
router.prefetch method from useRouter hook for programmatic prefetching.

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Question 33 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How can you handle forms in Next.js?

A: Handling forms in Next.js is similar to regular React applications. You can use controlled components
with state hooks like useState for form data, handle form submission with onSubmit events, and process
the data either client-side or by sending it to an API route. For more complex forms, you can use
libraries like Formik, react-hook-form, or react-final-form, which integrate well with Next.js.

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Question 34 of 50 Next.Js

Q: Can Next.js be used for building mobile applications?

A: Next.js is primarily designed for web applications, not native mobile apps. While you can create
responsive web apps that work well on mobile browsers using Next.js, it's not a framework for building
native mobile applications. For native mobile app development with React, React Native would be more
appropriate. Some developers use Next.js for a web version and React Native for native mobile versions
of the same application.

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Question 35 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How does Next.js handle static file serving?

A: Next.js serves static files like images, fonts, and other media from the public directory at the root of the
project. Files inside public can be referenced from the root of the application. For example, public/logo
.png can be accessed as /logo.png in your application. This directory is ideal for robots.txt,
favicon.ico, and other static assets that don't require processing.

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Question 36 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is getStaticPaths in Next.js?

A: getStaticPaths is a function used with dynamic routes and getStaticProps to specify which
paths should be pre-rendered at build time. It returns an array of path objects with params that match the
dynamic parts of your route. This function is necessary when using getStaticProps with dynamic
routes, as Next.js needs to know which pages to generate at build time.

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Question 37 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the useRouter hook in Next.js?

A: useRouter is a hook from the next/router package that gives you access to the router object inside
your components. It provides information about the current route, query parameters, and methods for
navigating between pages programmatically. You can use it to access route parameters, detect route
changes, perform redirects, and handle client-side navigation.

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Question 38 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you implement internationalization (i18n) in Next.js?

A: Next.js has built-in support for internationalization through its i18n routing feature. You can
configure supported locales in next.config.js, define which locale is the default, and specify whether to
use sub-path routing (/en/blog) or domain routing (en.example.com/blog). Next.js
automatically handles locale detection, redirects, and provides locale information to your pages through the
useRouter hook.

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Question 39 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is Next.js Middleware and how is it used?

A: Next.js Middleware is code that runs on the edge before a request is completed, allowing you to
modify responses based on incoming requests. You can create a middleware.js file at the root of your
project or in the pages directory. Middleware can be used for authentication, bot protection, redirects,
rewriting URLs, adding headers, and handling localization. It runs before rendering and can control access to
pages and API routes.

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Question 40 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are Next.js Preview Mode and Draft Mode?

A: Preview Mode (renamed to Draft Mode in Next.js 13) is a feature that allows you to temporarily bypass
static generation for specific pages. It's useful for content management systems where you want to preview
draft content before publishing. You can enable it through API routes and then use cookies to tell
Next.js to fetch the latest data instead of using cached static content.

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Question 41 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the 'next/script' component and how does it help with script
loading?

A: The Script component from next/script is used to optimize loading of third-party scripts. It offers
various loading strategies like beforeInteractive (for critical scripts), afterInteractive (default, loads after page
becomes interactive), lazyOnload (loads during idle time), and worker (loads in a web worker). This
component helps improve performance by controlling when and how external scripts are loaded without
blocking page rendering.

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Question 42 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the App Router in Next.js 13 and how does it differ from the Pages
Router?

A: The App Router, introduced in Next.js 13, is a new routing system built on React Server
Components. Unlike the Pages Router which uses the pages directory, the App Router uses the app
directory and implements nested routing with layouts, loading states, and error handling. It offers
features like server components, streaming, parallel routes, and intercepting routes. The App Router is more
powerful but has a different mental model than the Pages Router.

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Question 43 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are React Server Components in Next.js?

A: React Server Components (RSC) are a new type of component available in Next.js that run
exclusively on the server. They can access server resources directly (like databases), reduce the
client-side JavaScript bundle, and improve performance. Server Components can't use hooks,
browser APIs, or event handlers, but they can be interspersed with Client Components which have full
interactivity. In the App Router, components are Server Components by default.

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Question 44 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How do you implement data mutations in Next.js applications?

A: Data mutations in Next.js can be implemented through several approaches: 1) Using API routes to
create REST endpoints that handle data changes, 2) Implementing form submissions that post to these API
routes, 3) Using client-side libraries like SWR or React Query with their mutation methods, 4) In
Next.js 13+ App Router, you can use Server Actions which allow server-side functions to be called
directly from client components. The approach depends on your architecture and data requirements.

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Question 45 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is next build and what does it generate?

A: The next build command creates an optimized production build of your Next.js application. It
generates .next directory containing: 1) HTML files for statically generated pages, 2) JavaScript bundles
for client-side rendering, 3) Server-side code for API routes and server-rendered pages, 4)
JSON files with page data, and 5) Various optimization artifacts. The command also outputs build statistics,
showing page sizes, rendering methods used, and route information.

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Question 46 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How can you implement authentication in Next.js?

A: Next.js supports multiple authentication methods: 1) Using NextAuth.js/Auth.js, a popular

library with built-in providers for OAuth, email/password, etc., 2) Implementing custom
authentication with API routes for login/logout/session management, 3) Using a third-party
service like Firebase, Auth0, or Clerk. With the App Router, you can implement authentication using
middleware, server components, and route handlers. Session state can be managed with cookies, JWT
tokens, or external providers.

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Question 47 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the Next.js Compiler (Rust-based) and what benefits does it

provide?

A: The Next.js Compiler (also known as SWC or Speedy Web Compiler) is a Rust-based compiler
introduced to replace Babel and Terser in the Next.js build process. It provides significantly faster builds
(up to 17x faster) and refreshes (up to 5x faster) compared to the previous JavaScript-based tooling. The
compiler handles TypeScript, JSX transformation, minification, and various optimizations while maintaining
high compatibility with existing code.

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Question 48 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What are Edge Runtime and Node.js Runtime in Next.js?

A: Next.js offers two runtime environments: 1) Node.js Runtime, which provides full access to Node.js
APIs and npm packages but may have slower cold starts, and 2) Edge Runtime, which is a lightweight
JavaScript environment that runs closer to users with faster startup times but limited API access. You can
specify which runtime to use for API routes, Server Components, and middleware using the export
const runtime = 'edge' or 'nodejs' directive.

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Question 49 of 50 Next.Js

Q: How does Next.js handle caching and what types of cache does it use?

A: Next.js implements multiple caching mechanisms: 1) Full Route Cache for rendered UI at build time
or during revalidation, 2) Router Cache for temporarily storing UI on the client while navigating, 3) Request
Memoization for caching fetch requests and responses during a single render pass, 4) Data Cache for
persisting fetch responses across multiple renders, and 5) Client-side cache with SWR or React
Query. Caching can be configured using fetch options, Segment Config options, or route handlers.

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Question 50 of 50 Next.Js

Q: What is the <Suspense> component in Next.js and how is it used?

A: The Suspense component in Next.js allows you to display a fallback UI while components that require
data are loading. It works with React's concurrent features and is especially powerful with React Server
Components in the App Router. By wrapping components in Suspense, you can create streaming UI
patterns where different parts of the page load as their data becomes available, improving perceived
performance and user experience while preventing blocking rendering.

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