Next JS TypeScript Redux Boilerplate: From Basics to Advanced

published on 07 December 2023

Most website developers would agree that building a modern, scalable web app from scratch is challenging.

But what if you could kickstart development and rapidly build sophisticated apps with a robust Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate?

In this in-depth guide, you'll discover an advanced boilerplate to streamline building full-stack React apps with Next.js, TypeScript, and Redux. From project setup to state management, testing, SEO, PWAs, and beyond, you'll master proven techniques to create professional-grade applications.

Kickstarting Next.js Projects with TypeScript Redux Boilerplate

This TypeScript Redux boilerplate helps jumpstart robust Next.js projects by providing an optimized starter template. It includes:

  • TypeScript for static typing
  • Redux for state management
  • Jest for testing
  • ESLint and Prettier for code linting and formatting

Optimized Project Structure

The boilerplate promotes separation of concerns through its intuitive directory structure:

  • pages/ - Holds Next.js pages
  • styles/ - Centralized CSS styles
  • components/ - Presentational React components
  • store/ - Redux files like actions, reducers
  • utils/ - Shared utility functions

This structure reflects common patterns for scalable apps.

Out-of-the-Box Best Practices

Additionally, the boilerplate bundles best practices like:

  • Strict Mode - Helps catch bugs early in development
  • ESLint & Prettier - Enforce consistent code style guidelines automatically
  • Husky & Lint Staged - Prevent bad commits with git hooks
  • Next.js Image Optimization - Auto-optimize images served
  • SEO Fundamentals - Supports meta tags, sitemaps, robots.txt

These save hours of initial configuration time.

Flexibility for Growth

While opinionated, the boilerplate remains un-opinionated in key areas:

  • Styling - Pick any CSS solution like Styled Components, Tailwind CSS
  • Type Checking - Static type checking with TypeScript
  • Data Fetching - Use SWR, React Query, RTK Query

This flexibility ensures seamless integration with other libraries.

Summary

The Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate accelerates launching production-ready apps. Its optimized structure, best practice bundles, and flexibility for growth streamline repetitive tasks so developers can focus on app functionality. For those seeking robust foundations without restrictive opinions, this boilerplate delivers.

Discovering the Best Next.js TypeScript Redux Boilerplate in 2023

The Essentials of Next.js Boilerplate 2023

The Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate is an open-source starter codebase that includes Next.js 13, TypeScript, Redux Toolkit and other libraries pre-configured to save developers setup time.

Some of the key features offered out-of-the-box include:

  • Next.js 13 - The latest version with features like app directory support
  • TypeScript - Static typing for writing scalable apps
  • Redux Toolkit - State management made easy
  • React Testing Library - Ready-to-use test suite
  • ESLint - Finds and fixes code issues
  • Prettier - Opinionated code formatter
  • Husky - Git hooks made easy

This robust boilerplate ensures you start with an optimized Next.js codebase instead of configuring everything from scratch. The well-structured directory layout adheres to proven patterns for organizing Next.js apps.

Developers can clone the boilerplate GitHub repo and immediately start building features rather than spending days setting up. It's the perfect starting point in 2023 for next js tailwindcss, typescript, and redux powered web apps.

Key Advantages of Adopting TypeScript Boilerplate 2023

Using a TypeScript boilerplate for your Next.js web apps in 2023 offers several benefits:

  • Reduces Configuration Time: The boilerplate has Next.js, TypeScript, ESLint, and other tools pre-configured out-of-the-box exactly as an enterprise Next.js app needs. This saves you days of setup time.

  • Enforces Best Practices: Everything from the file structure to code linting follows industry best practices for robust Next.js apps. The boilerplate code is well-documented so developers can understand why decisions were made.

  • Built-in Scalability: With static typing and predictable state management from Redux Toolkit, the boilerplate enables building complex apps that scale over time.

  • Automated Testing: The React Testing Library suite encourages writing tests alongside features. This ensures code quality and prevents regression issues.

  • Increased Productivity: Since the foundation code takes care of the critical configuration, developers can focus entirely on building application logic and features without reinventing the wheel.

This Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate gives developers a robust starting point with well-structured code, best practices for Next.js apps, automated testing, and other essential development tools already integrated. The time and effort savings allow teams to develop faster.

Crafting Scalable Architectures: Project Structure Insights

This section provides a high-level overview of how the Next JS TypeScript Redux boilerplate codebase is structured, including the key folders, configuration files, and development tools. Understanding the project anatomy is crucial for effectively building upon the boilerplate.

The Next JS TypeScript Redux boilerplate follows common conventions for organizing a Next.js application.

Some key folders and files:

  • /pages - Contains page components that define the application routes. For example, pages/index.tsx renders the homepage.
  • /components - Houses all reusable React components.
  • /hooks - Custom hooks like useAuth.ts for handling authentication logic.
  • /store - Redux folders like slices and reducers for state management.
  • /styles - Global styles and theme files using Tailwind CSS.
  • /utils - Helper methods for things like API calls.

The main configuration files are:

  • next.config.js - Next.js build settings, asset prefixes, redirects etc.
  • tsconfig.json - TypeScript compiler options.
  • .eslintrc - ESLint settings for code linting.
  • jest.config.js - Jest test framework config.

This structure separates concerns into organized units while keeping a flat architecture for simplicity.

State Management with Redux: A Strategic Approach

Redux helps manage application state in a predictable way across components. The Next JS TypeScript Redux boilerplate has Redux Toolkit integrated with React/Next.js.

Some key Redux folders and files:

  • store.ts - The Redux store creation and configuration.
  • slices/ - State slices containing actions, reducers and action creators for each domain like auth.slice.ts.
  • reducers/ - Root reducer combining all state slices.

Here is a code snippet showing a Redux slice:

// auth.slice.ts

import { createSlice } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';

export const authSlice = createSlice({
  name: 'auth',
  initialState: { isLoggedIn: false },
  reducers: {
    login: state => {
      state.isLoggedIn = true; 
    },
    logout: state => { 
      state.isLoggedIn = false;
    }
  }
})

export const { login, logout } = authSlice.actions;
export default authSlice.reducer;

This structure promotes separation of state logic while keeping related code co-located. It provides a scalable foundation for complex applications. The boilerplate handles integrating Redux with Next.js for a smooth developer experience.

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Building with Best Practices: Core Functionality Using Redux

This section walks through building core app functionality using the boilerplate as a guide for developers to follow along.

Seamless Data Handling in Next.js Apps

The Next.js framework provides two key data fetching methods - getStaticProps and getServerSideProps - to handle data population on page loads. Here is an example using getServerSideProps in the boilerplate:

export const getServerSideProps = wrapper.getServerSideProps(
  (store) => async () => {
    try {
      await store.dispatch(getPosts());

      return {
        props: {},
      };
    } catch (err) {
      return {
        props: {
          error: err.message,
        },
      };
    }
  }
);

This allows handling async data, then passing props to the page component. The Redux store is also available via store.dispatch.

To manage loading and error UI states, the boilerplate provides reusable components:

<LoadingState />

<ErrorState message={error} /> 

These ensure a smooth user experience when fetching data on page navigation.

Securing User Access: Authentication Flow Mastery

The boilerplate incorporates JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication for secure user access. Signup and login works as:

// Signup request

const response = await axios.post("/api/auth/signup", {
  name,
  email,
  password
});

// Receive JWT on success
const { token } = response.data;

// Login request

const { token } = await axios.post("/api/auth/login", {
  email, 
  password
});

The JWT can then be stored locally or in a cookie for authorized API requests.

Protected routes are also configured using the isAuthorized Higher Order Component (HOC):

function PrivatePage() {
  return <p>Private page content</p>;
}

// Wrap with isAuthorized HOC
export default isAuthorized(PrivatePage);

This checks the JWT before allowing access to the page.

Ensuring Input Integrity: Form Validation Techniques

For bulletproof forms, the boilerplate includes client and server-side validation using Yup.

Example validating a signup form:

// Validation schema
const schema = yup.object().shape({
  name: yup.string().required(),
  email: yup.string().email().required(),
  password: yup
    .string()
    .min(8)
    .max(100)
    .required(),
});

// Validate on submit
const onSubmit = async (values) => {
  try { 
    await schema.validate(values, { abortEarly: false });
    
    // Submit data to API
    
  } catch (err) {
    // Yup errors
  }
}

The same validation schema can be reused on the API route:

// Reuse Yup schema

const { error } = schema.validate(req.body); 
if (error) {
  // Return error response
}

// Data is valid

This ensures consistency between client and server-side validation logic.

The boilerplate simplifies form building while keeping input secure across the stack.

Embracing Advanced Techniques for Sophisticated Applications

This section covers more advanced topics for taking apps built with this boilerplate to the next level.

Ensuring Quality with Jest: A Testing Roadmap

Jest is a popular JavaScript testing framework that comes preconfigured in Next.js. Writing tests ensures code quality and prevents regressions. Here is a guide for setting up and writing effective tests with Jest:

First install React Testing Library:

npm install --save-dev @testing-library/react

Unit Testing Components

Unit test isolated React components with helpers from React Testing Library:

import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react'
import UserInfo from '../components/UserInfo'

describe('UserInfo', () => {
  it('renders user data', () => {
    render(<UserInfo user={{ name: 'John' }} />)
    
    const userName = screen.getByText(/John/i)
    
    expect(userName).toBeInTheDocument()
  })
})

Mock any data passed via props to test components in isolation.

Integration Testing Pages

Render full Next.js pages to integration test complete features:

import { render, screen } from '../testUtils'
import Homepage from '../pages/index'

describe('Homepage', () => {
  it('renders homepage', () => {
     render(<Homepage />)
    
     expect(screen.getByText(/welcome/i)).toBeInTheDocument()
  })
})

Use a custom test utils file to handle Next.js' Server Side Rendering during tests.

Testing Utility Functions

Test standalone utility modules:

import { formatDate } from '../utils/formatDate'

describe('formatDate', () => {
  it('returns formatted date string', () => {
    const formatted = formatDate(new Date(2020, 1, 1))
    
    expect(formatted).toBe('02/01/2020')
  })
}) 

Aim for at least 80% test coverage across the app.

Enhancing Visibility: SEO with Server-side Rendering

Next.js applications have SEO advantages out of the box with built-in server side rendering. Here are some tips for optimizing SEO:

Dynamic Routes

For dynamic pages, pre-render data at build time so search engine crawlers can index the content. Under pages, create a file called [id].js that exports a getStaticProps function:

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  // Return list of possible ids
}

export async function getStaticProps({ params }) {
  // Fetch data for id
  return {
    props: { data } 
  }
}

export default function Page({ data }) {
  // Display page
}

Now each dynamic page can be pre-rendered with data for SEO.

Head Tags

Populate all important `` meta tags in `pages/_document.js` for consistent SEO across the site:

export default class Document {
  render() {
    return (
      <Html>
        <Head>
          <meta name="description" content="Site description for SEO"/>
          <meta property="og:title" content="Page title for social media"/>
          <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/"/> 
        </Head>
        <body>
          <Main />
          <NextScript />
        </body>
      </Html>
    )
  }
}

This ensures proper search indexing and social media snippets.

Image Optimization

Use the next/image component for automatic image optimization.

With these practices, Next.js apps can match and even exceed the SEO of traditional server rendered websites.

Elevating the User Experience: PWA with Next.js Tailwind Boilerplate

The next-pwa plugin configures Next.js apps as PWAs with just a few steps:

  1. Install:
npm install next-pwa
  1. Add plugin config to next.config.js:
const withPWA = require('next-pwa')

module.exports = withPWA({
  pwa: {
    dest: 'public',
    register: true,
    skipWaiting: true,   
  }
})
  1. Use React hooks in pages to handle service worker lifecycle:
import { useEffect } from 'react'  
import { useRouter } from 'next/router'
import * as Fathom from 'fathom-client'

export default function Home() {

  const router = useRouter()
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const handleRouteChange = url => {
      Fathom.trackPageview()
    }
    router.events.on('routeChangeComplete', handleRouteChange)
    return () => {
      router.events.off('routeChangeComplete', handleRouteChange)
    }
  }, [router.events])  

  return <p>Welcome Home!</p>
}

That's it! The app now has offline support, an installable icon on devices, and loads fast even on slow networks.

Synthesizing Knowledge: Final Takeaways from Next.js Boilerplate

The Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate provides an excellent starting point for building a modern, scalable web application with React and Next.js. Throughout this guide, we explored the structure, features, and customization options available in this robust boilerplate template.

To summarize the key takeaways:

  • The boilerplate includes TypeScript support out-of-the-box for superior type safety and tooling. Redux is also pre-configured for state management alongside React Hooks.

  • The file structure adheres to strict separation of concerns and domain-driven design principles for easier scaling. Pages, API routes, styles, store, and more each have their own directories.

  • Built-in ESLint and Prettier ensure code consistency and readability across development teams. Automatic import sorting further optimizes developer experience.

  • Jest testing comes configured for unit and integration tests to enable test driven development workflows. Testing utilities like react-testing-library are included as well.

  • For styles and UI, Tailwind CSS helps construct responsive layouts quickly while still allowing custom SASS/CSS when needed.

  • Next.js 12's File-based Routing system is leveraged to simplify page creation alongside dynamic params, catch-all routes, API middlewares, and more.

To further customize this boilerplate, developers can tap into its modular plugin architecture for Redux, Tailwind CSS, testing, and more. Many integrated tools like ESLint also expose configuration for personalization.

For Next.js developers looking to accelerate their projects, this TypeScript Redux boilerplate serves as an excellent starting point packed with all the modern capabilities you need. Be sure to check the GitHub repo for the latest updates!

This concludes the key highlights and customization tips for effectively utilizing the Next.js TypeScript Redux boilerplate template to streamline development. The ample documentation and open-source nature of this project enables deep personalization as well. For developers looking to boost their productivity, this robust starter kit delivers the essentials right out of the box.

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