Next.js to htmx — A Real World Example
Over 6 years ago, I created an open source URL shortener with Next.js and after years of working on it, I found Next.js to be much more of a burden than a help. Over the years, Next.js has changed, and so did my code so it can be compatible with those changes.
My Next.js codebase grew bigger, and its complexity increased by greater size. I had dozens of components and a list of dependencies to manage. I ended up maintaining the code constantly just to keep it alive. Sure, Next.js helped here and there, but at what cost?
I asked myself, what am I doing on my website that is so complex that needs all that JavaScript code to decide what to render and how to render on my webpage? Next.js was trying to render the webpage from the server side, so why won’t I send the HTML directly myself?
So I decided to try a new route—some might say the good ol’ route—and choose plain HTML and use the help of htmx for that.
