I’ve been going back and forth about using Next.js for my micro SaaS. I had it in the template for a while, but I finally ripped it off and won’t be using it for now. Why not?

I do like the main promise of Next.js, which is SSR (Server-Side Rendering). I’ve worked a lot with web frameworks where SSR was the only way to work, and I always felt a bit bad about pushing all that JavaScript payload for rendering to the frontend in React.

Still, React is made to be rendered in the client first, so it’s an extra layer of complexity in the project. I had a few strange bugs here and there that were related to SSR, and it’s not a main concern of many JavaScript UI package that assume they’re running in a browser. For a project I’m looking to get out fast, those extra bugs are too much of a pain compared to the performance gains of SSR.

In a project that needs that level of performance I would certainly reach for it again, but for a tiny project with an uncertain future and that need low maintenance overhead it’s too painful.

Projects updates

Despite messing with Next.js and related problem, I’m also ready to code the real SaaS features. I’ll be trying to migrate the Divjoy template to React 18 and then integrate Postmark for the newsletter since it’s pretty general. After that, I’ll start digging in the Etsy API!

I did a lot of work on my new eCommerce store for my socks too, it’s almost ready to show. I only need up to finish up a Contact and About page and wrap up payment integration before I can sending a bit of ad traffic to it.

Feeling of the week

Feeling good after deciding to get rid of a dependancy I don’t really need in my project!

Ways I can help you

• Get your cozy, made-to-fit wool socks at https://manibas.com.

• For my Canadian friends, I have a nano business selling seeds from my garden at https://sentiersperdus.net/en. Sorry, due to various phytosanitary concerns, it’s hard to ship those outside Canada

• Don’t hesitate to reply to this email if you want to chat about software development.

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