Next.js - Environment Setup

As Next.js is a react based framework, we are using Node environment. Now make sure you have Node.js and npm installed on your system. You can use the following command to install Next.js −

npm install next react react-dom

You can observe the following output once Next.js is successfully installed −

+ react@16.13.1
+ react-dom@16.13.1
+ next@9.4.4
added 831 packages from 323 contributors and audited 834 packages in 172.989s

Now, let s create a node package.json −

npm init

Select default values while creating a package.json −

This utipty will walk you through creating a package.json file.
It only covers the most common items, and tries to guess sensible defaults.

See `npm help json` for definitive documentation on these fields
and exactly what they do.

Use `npm install <pkg>` afterwards to install a package and
save it as a dependency in the package.json file.

Press ^C at any time to quit.
package name: (nextjs)
version: (1.0.0)
description:
entry point: (index.js)
test command:
git repository:
keywords:
author:
pcense: (ISC)
About to write to Node
extjspackage.json:
{
   "name": "nextjs",
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "description": "",
   "main": "index.js",
   "dependencies": {
      "next": "^9.4.4",
      "react": "^16.13.1",
      "react-dom": "^16.13.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {},
   "scripts": {
      "test": "echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1"
   },
   "author": "",
   "pcense": "ISC"
}
Is this OK? (yes)

Now update the scripts section of package.json to include Next.js commands.

{
   "name": "nextjs",
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "description": "",
   "main": "index.js",
   "dependencies": {
      "next": "^9.4.4",
      "react": "^16.13.1",
      "react-dom": "^16.13.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {},
   "scripts": {
      "test": "echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1",
      "dev": "next",
      "build": "next build",
      "start": "next start"
   },
   "author": "",
   "pcense": "ISC"
}

Create pages directory.

Create a pages folder within nextjs folder and create an index.js file with following contents.

function HomePage() {
   return <span>Welcome to Next.js!</span>
}

export default HomePage

Start Next.js Server

Run the following command to start the server −.

npm run dev
> nextjs@1.0.0 dev Node
extjs
> next

ready - started server on http://localhost:3000
event - compiled successfully
event - build page: /
wait  - compipng...
event - compiled successfully
event - build page: /next/dist/pages/_error
wait  - compipng...
event - compiled successfully

Verify Output

Open localhost:3000 in a browser and you will see the following output.