Next JS Express Boilerplate: Quick Start Guide

Most developers struggle with setting up a robust full-stack app from scratch.

This Next.js Express boilerplate guide promises a quick and painless setup of a production-ready full-stack app, complete with authentication, CRUD operations, custom APIs, and deployment.

You'll walk through installation, configuration, core features like user auth flows, integrating databases, building APIs, deployment on Vercel, and next steps for customization. The boilerplate code serves as a flexible foundation to rapidly build your next web app.

Introducing Next JS Express Boilerplate

next-js-boilerplate-essentials-for-rapid-development/">Next JS Express Boilerplate is an open-source boilerplate that helps developers quickly start building full-stack web applications with Next.js on the front end, Express on the back end, and MongoDB for the database. It comes preconfigured with essential tools to simplify the development workflow and supercharge productivity.

What is a Boilerplate and Why Use One

A boilerplate is like a prefabricated foundation for building a house. Instead of starting from absolute scratch, a boilerplate provides a base with wiring and plumbing already in place to immediately start constructing on.

Similarly, a coding boilerplate offers a basic project scaffold with configuration, structure, dependencies and integrations pre-set up. This eliminates repetitive tasks so developers can dive right into writing application logic and features.

Benefits of using a boilerplate:

• Saves setup time - Avoid starting projects from zero and avoid having to make all initial choices yourself.
• Best practices baked-in - Leverage conventions established by the community.
• Focus on unique code - Boilerplate handles the standardized stuff so you can focus on your unique application.
• Built-in integrations - Hit the ground running with essentials like routing, state management, linting already configured.

Overall, boilerplates help boost productivity and make starting new projects simple. The best boilerplates like Next JS Express Boilerplate also remain unopinionated so you customize configurations to your liking.

Key Benefits and Features of the Best Next JS Boilerplate

The Next JS Express Boilerplate simplifies building full-stack apps with Next.js and Express by handling initial setup and providing useful features including:

• TypeScript - Static type checking helps catch bugs early and improve overall code quality
• ESLint & Prettier - Formatting and linting comes configured out-of-the-box to enforce consistent code style
• Jest Testing - Includes unit and integration test frameworks to encourage test-driven development
• Next Auth - Authentication scaffolding helps add login/registration flows quickly
• MongoDB - MongoDB integration via Mongoose speeds up working with database
• Docker - Docker configurations streamline containerizing apps for deployment
• Bootstrap UI - Front-end framework with components and styling speeds up UI building
• API Routes - Backend Express routes generate REST API endpoints automatically
• VS Code Config - Editor tooling like Debugger for Chrome aids development

This boilerplate essentially handles all the standard scaffolding, freeing up developers to concentrate on designing application-specific features and business logic. The flexible codebase remains unopinionated so teams can customize configurations to their needs.

Overall, Next JS Express Boilerplate accelerates building full-stack apps by providing a solid, production-ready foundation with batteries included out-of-the-box. Its active community also ensures continued maintenance and updates over time.

What is Next.js boilerplate?

Next.js boilerplates provide developers with a starting codebase to accelerate building web applications using the Next.js framework.

They include preconfigured tools, plugins, and structure to eliminate repetitive setup tasks. This allows engineers to bypass the initial configuration phase and dive right into coding features.

Some key elements found in Next.js boilerplates:

• Preconfigured project structure with recommended patterns for organizing code, styles, tests, etc.
• Common dependencies like React, Webpack, Babel preinstalled to compile and bundle code.
• Routing system ready to create pages.
• Pre-built UI components for layouts, buttons, forms.
• State management integration with Redux or React Query.
• SCSS/CSS support for styling components.
• SEO optimizations for improving search visibility.
• Authentication flows using NextAuth.js.
• API endpoints to connect serverless functions.
• Deployment configs for Vercel, Netlify and other platforms.

In summary, Next.js boilerplates lets developers skip repetitive setup work and focus on building the unique aspects of their applications. They provide an optimized, production-ready foundation to create fast, scalable apps with Next.js and React.

Can Next.js replace backend?

Next.js is a popular React framework that enables server-side rendering and static site generation for web applications. With recent additions like API routes and middleware support, Next.js seems capable of replacing traditional backend frameworks. However, while Next.js covers many common backend use cases, traditional backends still excel in certain situations.

When Next.js works well as a backend

Some examples where Next.js works well as a backend include:

• Basic CRUD APIs: Next.js API routes allow creating REST APIs quickly without much boilerplate code. These are useful for basic CRUD operations.
• Server-side rendering: Next.js handles server-side rendering automatically. This improves SEO and initial load performance.
• Static site generation: Static pages can be built at build time for blazing fast performance. Useful for marketing sites.
• Small to medium complexity web apps: For apps that don't require immense scalability or complex logic, Next.js simplifies the entire stack.

Limitations of Next.js as a backend

However, for large scale or complex applications, traditional backends still have some advantages:

• Advanced caching: Dedicated caches like Redis offer more control than Next.js's built-in caching.
• Background jobs: Cron jobs, queues, triggers help handle asynchronous tasks. Next.js doesn't provide native support.
• Relational data: ORMs in traditional frameworks simplify working with relational data. Next.js would require custom logic.

So in summary, Next.js 13 is a powerful and flexible framework that can be used for building both frontend and backend applications. But traditional backends still excel for advanced use cases.

Is Next.js a full stack framework?

Next.js is not a full-fledged full stack framework out of the box. However, it does provide excellent support for building full stack applications with Node.js and Express.

The key capabilities that allow Next.js to power full stack apps are:

• Server-side Rendering - Next.js pre-renders pages on the server. This enables faster page loads and is great for SEO.
• API Routes - API routes provide a tight integration for handling backend APIs in a Next.js app. The routes allow sending responses directly from the server.
• Easy Deployment - Next.js is highly optimized for production deployments. Minimal configuration is required to deploy apps with full stack capabilities.

To build a full stack Next.js app, you would typically use Next.js for the frontend React app with pages and components. Then integrate Express and Node.js on the backend for the REST API and database integration.

There are starters like Next.js Express boilerplate that make bootstrapping full stack Next.js projects quicker. They bundle configurations for Express, MongoDB/SQL databases, authentication etc.

So in summary, Next.js provides excellent capabilities for the frontend React app and first-class integration for adding server side logic. By leveraging its integration points with backend technologies like Express and Node, full stack apps can be built easily.

What is boilerplate in Nodejs?

Boilerplate refers to reusable code and configurations that serve as a starting point for new projects. In Node.js, boilerplate can help developers avoid repetitive setup tasks and quickly scaffold an application skeleton. This is helpful because Node.js itself does not include much built-in functionality - developers must install dependencies and configure build processes from scratch for each project.

Common boilerplate components in Node.js include:

• Project structure organization - Recommended location for files like package.json, server files, routes, middlewares etc.
• Build system - Task runners like Webpack or Parcel to bundle assets.
• Server framework - Express.js or Fastify for request handling and routing.
• Config files - For environment variables, database connections, etc.
• Scripts - Build and start commands for development/production.
• Tests - Unit and integration test frameworks like Mocha or Jest.
• Deployment configs - Dockerfiles or CI/CD integration for production deployment.

So in summary, boilerplates allow Node.js developers to skip repetitive project configuration steps and start coding application logic faster. There are many generalized and framework-specific Node boilerplates available on GitHub and npm to use as a starting point.

The Next JS Express Boilerplate specifically contains Node.js and Express.js server code to handle server-side rendering and API endpoints out of the box. This eliminates the need to set up and connect the backend server separately. Developers can simply clone, customize, and deploy fullstack Next.js apps faster with this boilerplate foundation.

sbb-itb-5683811

Getting Started with Next JS Express Boilerplate 2023 Edition

This section walks through the quick and painless process of installing, customizing, and running the Next JS Express Boilerplate on your local development environment.

Installation and Setup from Next js express boilerplate github

Follow these simple steps to get up and running with the Next JS Express Boilerplate:

• Clone the boilerplate from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/nextjs-express-boilerplate.git

• Navigate into the project directory and install dependencies:

cd nextjs-express-boilerplate
npm install
// or 
yarn

• Create a .env file with your MongoDB connection URL and credentials:

MONGO_URL=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster0.xyz.mongodb.net/nextjs-express-boilerplate?retryWrites=true&w=majority

• Run the development server:

npm run dev
// or
yarn dev

That's it! The app should now be running on http://localhost:3000.

Project Structure Overview with Next js express boilerplate example

The boilerplate codebase is structured as follows:

• /pages - All app pages and API routes
• /public - Static files
• /server - Express server code
• /styles - Global styles
• /utils - Helper functions
• /components - Reusable React components

Pages are further organized by section - home, blog, user etc. This structure allows you to easily navigate and modify existing pages or add new ones.

Key files:

• server.js - Initializes Express server
• next.config.js - Next JS config
• _app.js - Custom App component

Configuration and Customization

To customize the boilerplate:

• Update site name, description etc in next.config.js
• Modify styles in /styles/global.css
• Add/remove pages and API routes in /pages
• Swap MongoDB with SQL or any other database by modifying server.js
• Replace React components in /components or create new ones

The boilerplate is built to be highly modular and extensible. Tweak it to tailor the starter code precisely to your app requirements.

Overall, the Next JS Express Boilerplate from GitHub provides a solid, production-ready foundation to jumpstart your next web app. With minimal setup and effortless customization, you can quickly build and iterate on ideas without reinventing the wheel.

Core Functionality Walkthrough

Dive into working with core boilerplate functionality including authentication, CRUD operations, APIs, SEO optimization, testing, and more with code examples.

Authentication System

The Next JS Express Boilerplate comes with a built-in authentication system using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) to handle user login and access control. Here is an overview of how it works:

To start, the boilerplate includes passport middleware that handles user authentication on the backend. When a user signs up or logs in with credentials, a JWT token is generated and returned. On subsequent requests, the JWT token is verified to authenticate the user and protect private routes.

Protected routes and controller methods check if a request is authenticated using a middleware function isAuth. If valid, the request continues, otherwise a 401 unauthorized response is returned.

Here is a code snippet demonstrating a protected route:

// Protect route middleware
router.get('/profile', isAuth, async (req, res) => {
  return res.json(req.user); 
});

To implement login and logout, the boilerplate provides a /auth API route with login and logout methods. Calling POST /auth/login with credentials returns a JWT token to authenticate future requests. POST /auth/logout destroys the token on both client and server.

Overall, this authentication system powered by JWT allows implementing authorization and protected resources with just a few lines of code!

Performing CRUD Operations

The boilerplate makes it easy to perform CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations for persistent data using the integrated MongoDB database and Mongoose ODM.

It includes a predefined User schema and model for managing user accounts. Additional MongoDB models can be created by extending /models, like:

// Create Note model
const noteSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  title: String,
  body: String
});

const Note = mongoose.model('Note', noteSchema);

With models defined, the boilerplate provides a set of CRUD API routes out of the box at `/api/`:

POST   /api/<model>      - Create document 
GET    /api/<model>      - Get all documents
GET    /api/<model>/:id  - Get single document
PATCH  /api/<model>/:id  - Update document
DELETE /api/<model>/:id  - Delete document

These APIs can directly integrate with frontends to build full-stack, data-driven apps quickly with no extra backend code needed!

Building Custom API Endpoints

While the boilerplate offers standard CRUD routes for models, additional custom API endpoints can be built to power more complex app functionality.

New routes are defined in /routes/api like:

// api/search.js
router.get('/search', async (req, res) => {
  // Perform search logic
  const results = []; 
  
  res.json(results);
});

These endpoints integrate with the existing authentication system. Custom business logic goes here such as:

• Complex database queries
• Integrations with external services
• Background jobs and more!

Overall, the boilerplate makes it simple to develop custom APIs serving both web and mobile apps.

Customizing and Extending Boilerplate Features

Make the boilerplate your own by swapping out technologies, integrating third-party services, adding new pages/components, and more.

Incorporating Other Databases

The Next JS Express Boilerplate comes with MongoDB set up by default. However, you may want to connect a SQL database like MySQL or PostgreSQL instead.

To add a new database:

• Install the required node modules. For MySQL, you would run:

npm install mysql

• Set up a connection to the database by modifying lib/db.js. Import the appropriate node module and create a connection:

import mysql from 'mysql';

const connection = mysql.createConnection({
  host: 'localhost',
  user: 'root',
  password: 'password',
  database: 'mydb'
});

• Query the database using promises or async/await syntax:

export async function getUsers() {
  const [rows] = await connection.execute('SELECT * FROM users');
  return rows;
}

With a few configuration changes, you can easily swap out MongoDB for the SQL or NoSQL database of your choice.

Adding UI Component Libraries

The boilerplate includes a minimalist UI library. To enhance the look and feel, integrate popular frameworks like:

• Material UI - Install with npm install @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled and import MUI components.
• Chakra UI - Run npm install @chakra-ui/react @emotion/react@^11 @emotion/styled@^11 framer-motion@^6 and import Chakra components.
• Tailwind CSS - Install Tailwind and configure it as described in the Tailwind docs.

These frameworks provide pre-built React components that adhere to common design standards. Tweak the boilerplate's layouts, pages, and components to leverage these new UI elements.

Implementing Third-Party Services

The boilerplate includes basic user authentication. To add additional functionality:

• Payments - Follow Stripe's Node integration guide to accept payments.
• Email - Sign up for SendGrid and call their API to send transactional emails.
• Realtime - Install Socket.io to enable realtime communication.

Refer to each platform's documentation when integrating their SDKs. For example, Stripe's quickstart guide walks through implementation details.

With some legwork up front, you can connect virtually any external service to power up your application. The boilerplate's modular architecture makes this process straightforward.

Deploying Your Application

Put your Next.js app into production by deploying to servers like Vercel, AWS, and Heroku using Git and CI/CD pipelines.

Setting Up Git Version Control with Next-js-boilerplate GitHub

The Next.js Express boilerplate on GitHub makes it easy to initialize Git version control for your project. After cloning the boilerplate repository, you can commit changes to track code history over time.

Here are some benefits of enabling Git version control with a Next.js boilerplate:

• Streamline collaboration by pushing and pulling code changes from a shared remote repository
• Leverage built-in Git workflows like branching and merging
• Integrate with CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment
• Leverage GitHub issues, pull requests and code reviews
• Avoid accidentally overwriting code with Git's versioning capabilities

Follow these steps to set up Git version control with Next.js Express boilerplate:

• Fork the Next.js Express boilerplate repository on GitHub
• Clone your forked repository locally on your machine
• Make code changes and commit them with descriptive messages
• Push commits to update the remote forked repository
• Open pull requests to contribute back upstream

Now you have Git history tracking all code changes in your Next.js app!

Configuring Continuous Integration

Continuous integration (CI) automates the process of building, testing and validating each code change made to your application. Instead of manually running tests, CI services automatically execute your test suite and validate new code whenever you push commits to your Git repository.

Some benefits of enabling CI for your Next.js app include:

• Automated feedback on code changes through passing or failing builds
• Early detection of bugs, errors, and regressions
• Consistent testing across different environments
• Facilitate rapid iterations and continuous delivery
• Help enforce code quality standards

Two popular CI services to use with Next.js boilerplates are GitHub Actions and Travis CI.

Follow these basic steps to configure CI for your Next.js app:

• Add a YAML configuration file (e.g. .github/workflows/main.yml or .travis.yml) that defines your CI workflow
• Specify triggers like push, pull requests, or a custom schedule
• Define the environment and steps to install, build, test, and deploy your app
• Push code to trigger an automated CI run whenever changes are made

Now your Next.js app can leverage CI for automated testing and delivery workflows!

Launching on Vercel

Vercel is an optimal deployment platform for Next.js applications given its tight integration, global edge network for performance/scale, and streamlined developer workflows.

Some key benefits of deploying your Next.js app on Vercel include:

• Optimized for Next.js - Pre-configured runtime environment
• Global edge network - Low latency and high availability
• Rapid iterations with Git workflows
• Custom domains, path routing, environment variables
• Serverless functions support
• Free tier available

Follow these simple steps to deploy your Next.js boilerplate app on Vercel:

• Push your Next.js app code to a Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket)
• Sign up for a free Vercel account and import your repository
• Select optimal build settings and environment variables
• Trigger an initial deployment andPreview changes in staging
• Promote successful builds to Production deployment

Now your Next.js application is live on Vercel's edge network with continuous delivery enabled!

Next Steps and Additional Resources

With the core foundations built, explore additional boilerplate features and external learning resources to continue mastering full-stack development with the Next JS stack.

Testing Framework

The next js express boilerplate integrates Jest for writing unit and integration tests. This ensures your applications are thoroughly tested and minimize bugs in production.

Some key things you can test:

• API routes
• Utility functions
• Component rendering
• Custom hooks

Setting up tests is quick since everything is preconfigured out the box. Simply create test files like Component.test.js and Jest will automatically run on npm test.

There are also libraries like React Testing Library to simplify testing components. Overall, having tests leads to more robust, production-ready apps down the line.

SEO Best Practices

The boilerplate makes SEO easier through built-in support for:

• Page metadata
• Dynamic title and description tags
• Automatically generated sitemaps
• Social media link preview

This means your Next JS sites can better optimize for search engine ranking and social media sharing.

Some additional tips:

• Use descriptive page titles and meta descriptions
• Add alt text for images
• Improve site speed and responsiveness
• Create unique content that offers value

Following SEO best practices improves discoverability, drives organic traffic, and boosts conversions over time.

Community Forum and Help on Nextjs express boilerplate Github

Get help or contribute to the boilerplate codebase by visiting the Nextjs express boilerplate GitHub repository.

You can:

• Report bugs or request features
• Ask questions if stuck
• Submit pull requests to improve the project

There is also a discussion forum for getting quick community support without creating formal GitHub issues.

Overall, don't hesitate to engage the active open-source community around next js express boilerplate. It helps accelerate your learning!

Related posts

• Next JS Boilerplate Essentials for Rapid Development
• Next JS TypeScript Boilerplate: Quick Start Guide
• Next JS Ecommerce Boilerplate: Quickstart Your Online Store
• Next JS TypeScript Tailwind Boilerplate: Your Quickstart Guide