Effortlessly Deploy React Apps with Next.js and Azure Static Web Apps

If you are a web developer, you know that the process of deploying applications can be a tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming task. In this article, we will explore a way to make deployment a breeze using Next.js and Azure Static Web Apps.

What is Next.js?

Next.js is a React framework that provides server-side rendering, making your React application faster and more SEO-friendly. It also offers other features, such as automatic code splitting, dynamic imports, and hot module reloading. Next.js is an excellent tool for building modern, high-performance, and scalable web applications.

What are Azure Static Web Apps?

Azure Static Web Apps is a service that allows you to easily deploy static web applications to the cloud. It provides built-in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), automatic SSL, and custom domains. Azure Static Web Apps integrates seamlessly with GitHub, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket.

Getting Started with Next.js

First, you need to install create-next-app, which is a global command-line interface (CLI) tool for creating new Next.js applications:

npm install -g create-next-app

Next, use the following command to create a new Next.js application called my-app:

npx create-next-app my-app

This will create a new directory called my-app with the basic structure of a Next.js application.

Creating a new Azure Static Web App

Now it is time to create a new Azure Static Web App. Go to the Azure portal and click on "Create a resource" in the top-left corner. Then, search for "Static Web App" and select it from the list of available resources.

Next, fill out the required information, such as the subscription, resource group, and name of your new Azure Static Web App. Choose the operating system (Windows or Linux) and the runtime stack (Node.js or .NET). In this case, select Node.js as the runtime stack.

After that, link your GitHub, Azure DevOps, or Bitbucket repository that contains your Next.js application. Choose the branch you want to deploy from and enter the build command that your application requires. Next.js applications need to run the build command to generate the optimized production build.

Lastly, select a region close to your visitors to reduce latency.

Once you have filled out all the required information, click on "Review + create" and then "Create" to start the deployment process.

Configuring Azure Static Web Apps

Now it is time to configure Azure Static Web Apps to work with your Next.js application. In the root directory of your Next.js application, create a new file called staticwebapp.config.json. This file contains the configuration settings for your Azure Static Web App.

Here's an example of what the contents of the staticwebapp.config.json file should look like:

{
    "routes": [
      {
        "route": "/*",
        "serve": "/out"
      }
    ],
    "navigationFallback": {
      "rewrite": "/index.html",
      "exclude": ["/api/*"]
    }
  }

The routes array specifies that all requests should be redirected to the /out directory, which is where the Next.js build output resides. The navigationFallback object tells Azure Static Web Apps to rewrite all requests to the /index.html file, which is required for client-side routing to work properly, and excludes requests to any routes that start with /api/.

Testing your Azure Static Web App

After Azure Static Web Apps has finished deploying your Next.js application, you can test it by navigating to the URL provided by Azure. The URL should look like this:

https://<app-name>.azurestaticapps.net

If your application is working correctly, you should see your home page with no errors. You can also use the Azure portal to monitor your Azure Static Web App and view its logs.

Conclusion

That's it! You now know how to deploy a Next.js application effortlessly using Azure Static Web Apps. By leveraging Azure Static Web Apps, you can automate your deployment process and focus on building great applications instead of worrying about infrastructure. Happy coding!