Discovering Next.js
Our Institute's Software Engineering Students' Community organized a HackNest meetup, where Pawan Senpura explained how to create a portfolio using Next.js in a very simple and understandable way. Until then, I had built several websites using the MERN stack, but after that session, I developed a strong interest in learning Next.js because I realized how simple it was.
Getting Started with Next.js
As Pawan suggested, I started learning Next.js by reading the documentation provided by the official NextJs site, which provided clear and straightforward guidance. By following the course, I was able to understand how to build a complete Next.js project. Since I was already familiar with React and Node.js, learning Next.js wasn’t too difficult for me.
First Hands-on Project
However, even after completing the course, I didn’t feel entirely confident in my Next.js skills. Around that time, I got an opportunity to build a website for my sister’s internship project. I decided to apply what I had recently learned and developed the website using Next.js, which was a course website.
Building More Projects
Helping out our peers and friends with their projects is truly valuable for our personal development. I didn’t stop there; I went on to try several more projects with Next.js, including my portfolio website. The more projects I worked on, the more confident I became, and now I’m no longer afraid to build projects using Next.js.
The Biggest Lesson
The most important lesson I’ve learned is this: whenever we feel inspired to learn something new, we should start immediately. But just starting isn’t enough; we must continue. It’s not enough to just learn something new; we have to keep practicing. That’s the only way to truly make use of what we’ve learned.
Final Thoughts
Never be afraid to try new things! Learning new technologies and applying them through real projects is the best way to grow as a developer. If you're thinking about learning Next.js, just start today!