Mastering Next.js 14

Next.js 14 introduces a stable approach to Server Actions, simplifying data mutations significantly. This release marks a pivotal moment in the React ecosystem, blurring the lines between client and server more seamlessly than ever before.

Server Actions: The Game Changer

Gone are the days of creating separate API routes for simple form submissions. With Server Actions, you can define functions that run on the server directly within your components. This reduces the mental overhead of switching between frontend and backend contexts. You simply write a function, mark it with "use server", and call it from your form.

        
// app/actions.ts
'use server'

export async function createTodo(formData: FormData) {
  const title = formData.get('title')
  await db.todo.create({ data: { title } })
  revalidatePath('/')
}
        
      

Partial Prerendering (PPR)

This experimental feature promises the best of both static and dynamic worlds. PPR allows you to prerender a shell of your application statically while streaming in dynamic parts. This ensures an instant initial paint for the user, followed by dynamic content as it becomes available.

It fundamentally changes how we think about rendering strategies. instead of choosing between Static Site Generation (SSG) and Server-Side Rendering (SSR) for an entire page, we can now make that decision on a component level. This leads to faster Time to First Byte (TTFB) and a better overall user experience.

Turbopack

Next.js 14 also brings significant improvements to Turbopack, the Rust-based bundler. It's faster, more reliable, and ready to replace Webpack for development builds. The speed difference is noticeable, especially in large projects where hot module replacement (HMR) can start to lag.