Next.js and React Upgrades: Complexity of New Features and Tooling

Key Quotes

"We definitely think of React version upgrades and Next.js version upgrades as different things. Sometimes they are prerequisites. The Next.js ones are a bit more important as 1) the docs for the most recent version tend to be the best and 2) it involves server side code which is important for security reasons. Never has any of it been trivially easy."

The speaker, Chris, highlights that upgrading React and Next.js are distinct processes, with Next.js upgrades being more critical due to improved documentation and security implications of server-side code. He emphasizes that these upgrades are never simple.

"and you know it's there's many reasons that we need to stay up to date overall with client side stuff like react we uh you know we want to stay compatible with different libraries we want to be able to access the latest docs and resources like that's that's huge um if you're on an outdated version and you're trying to find information um you're almost always going to run into some hiccups there"

Chris explains that staying current with client-side libraries like React is essential for maintaining compatibility with other tools and, crucially, for accessing up-to-date documentation. He notes that outdated versions often lead to difficulties when searching for information.

"but we were we were stuck on one version for a while because with uh something server side like like next you've you've there's deployment and all kinds of stuff and uh chris you and i are the are the front end guys and so it's easy for us to update an npm package but when it comes time to actually get that next site deployed and out on the server and working and everything uh most of the time we're going to hit a wall if there's any kind of problem"

The speaker describes a past situation where they were "stuck" on an older version of Next.js due to the complexities of server-side deployment. He points out that while updating an npm package is straightforward for front-end developers, the deployment phase often presents significant challenges.

"and uh this week i guess next 16 dropped and it looked like a good time to be like well maybe we'll just stay on top of it because the last two updates we did were much i don't know i shouldn't say much more painful than this one because this one's not even done yet but it's it's like i don't know like it feels good to stay on top of it because the longer it goes the worse it can be right"

The speaker reflects on the release of Next.js 16, suggesting it's a good time to proactively upgrade. He contrasts this with previous, more painful updates, and expresses a preference for staying current, believing that delaying upgrades can exacerbate problems over time.

"and because we're not like a tight ship with typescript it's not 100 there yet prop types did still have some value so it does feel a little weird ripping them out but usually we rip them out and convert to typescript too but i generally find that to be satisfying work but it's it's tricky because it's not useful like no nobody's paying us any more money the client isn't the app isn't any better you know it can be just zero benefit almost maybe maybe when you're developing and and you like import that component you get slightly better uh type hinting yeah which it's like slightly better dx and who knows maybe we prevented a bug from shipping at one point or something who knows yeah"

The speaker discusses the removal of prop types in React 19, noting that while it feels strange given their codebase isn't fully TypeScript, prop types still offered some value, particularly for editor hints and client-side checking. He acknowledges that the benefit is marginal, potentially improving developer experience and preventing rare bugs.

"but yeah i mean supposedly it it will compile faster um i you know maybe that'll help with like our deployment and and stuff too but i don't i don't think there's like a client side benefit to it well i think of when that i see almost every day is that next takes a little while to compile and by a little while for us it's like what would you say 20 seconds or something only that first time that you speed up the dev environment"

The speaker mentions that Next.js 16 with Turbopack is supposed to compile faster, which might benefit deployment. However, he expresses doubt about any direct client-side performance improvements, noting that the current development environment compilation time of around 20 seconds is a daily annoyance.