Developer's Diaries

Deploying Next.js Applications to Vercel Deploying Next.js Applications to Vercel As a final step in this Next.js project is to deploy our application to Vercel. This process is straightforward and leverages Vercel's seamless integration with Next.js. Why Choose Vercel? Next.js is a project by Vercel, making Vercel the optimal choice for deploying Next.js applications. It simplifies the deployment process and ensures compatibility. While other platforms like Netlify are popular, deploying Next.js on them can be cumbersome. Vercel offers a streamlined experience for Next.js projects. Getting Started with Vercel If you don't have a Vercel account, pause here and sign up for a free account. Once registered, your Vercel dashboard should look like this: First, we need to set up a GitHub repository for our project. Make sure your environment variables (.env) are i

Understanding Dynamic Page Rendering in Next.js Understanding Dynamic Page Rendering in Next.js Dynamic page rendering is a crucial feature in web development, especially when dealing with frequently updated data. In Next.js, managing dynamic content efficiently can significantly improve user experience and data accuracy. By default, Next.js decides whether a page should be static or dynamic. However, there are scenarios where forcing a page to be dynamic is beneficial. This is where export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic'; comes into play. Why Force Dynamic Rendering? Consider an application where tasks are frequently added, updated, or deleted. A static page might not reflect the current state of the database, leading to outdated or incorrect information being displayed. For example, suppose we have a tasks page. Initially, the page is static, and tasks are displayed correctly when

Building and Deploying a Next.js App with Prisma Building and Deploying a Next.js App with Prisma Before deploying our app to Vercel, it's crucial to ensure it builds correctly locally. This tutorial will guide you through making the necessary changes and preparing your Next.js app, which uses Prisma, for deployment. Step 1: Modify the Build Command When deploying a Next.js app that uses Prisma, you need to adjust the build command to avoid errors. Prisma requires a command to generate the necessary client files. Here’s how to update the build command: Open package.json : Locate the scripts section. Update the Build Command : Change the build script to include Prisma generation: "scripts": { "build": "npx prisma generate && next build" } This ensures that Prisma generates the requ

Hosting Your Database with Planetscale Hosting Your Database with Planetscale Before we deploy our application to Vercel and push it up to production, we need to host our database. Our current setup works only locally, so we'll use Planetscale for its ease of use and generous free tier. For this tutorial, we'll stick to a basic setup. Note that even for the free tier, Planetscale requires a valid credit card, but in my experience, they do not charge you. Setting Up Your Planetscale Account If you don't have a Planetscale account yet, go to planetscale.com , sign up, and follow along with the video. Once your account is created, you'll see your dashboard, where you can create multiple organizations. Each organization gets one free tier instance, but you need to provide unique credit card info for each one. Deleting organizations can be tricky, so be prepared to manage them car

Hosting Your Database with Render Platform Hosting Your Database with Render Platform In the following guide, we're going to cover how to host our database using Planetscale. However, I've decided to create an additional guide on how to host our database on the Render platform, which is another free option we can use. Keep in mind that the free hobby instance we're going to use on Render expires in 90 days. So, that's something to be aware of. Step-by-Step Guide 1. Sign Up for Render First, you'll need to sign up for a Render account. It's free and, as far as I remember, they don't ask for a credit card, so it should be straightforward. 2. Create a New Postgres Instance Once you have your account, go to the dashboard and look for the "New" button. Here, create a new Postgres instance:

Handling Middleware in Next.js - A Tutorial Handling Middleware in Next.js - A Tutorial At the conclusion of this tutorial, we'll briefly delve into the concept of middleware in Next.js. Middleware is essentially a mechanism to execute operations before a request is fully processed. In our case, we'll keep it simple to cover the basics, as our upcoming project will utilize an authentication service called Clark for handling intricate details. Let's start by creating a special file with either a .js or .ts extension in the root directory. This file must be named middleware. To create the middleware file: new file: middleware.js Within this file, we export a function with the same name. For now, let's focus on logging information. export default function middleware() { console.log('Hello World'); } Restart the server to ensure changes take effect: npm run dev This middleware function will be invoked for every route by de

Handling POST Requests in Next.js API Routes Handling POST Requests in Next.js API Routes In this guide, we will explore how to handle POST requests in a Next.js API route. This involves setting up a function to manage the incoming requests, accessing the request body, and interacting with the database to create new tasks. Setting Up the POST Handler To handle POST requests, we need to create a function in our route.js file. The function should be named post and it will have access to the request object. We will use await request.json() to get the data from the request body and create a new task in the database. Example Code export async function post(request) { const data = await request.json(); const task = await db.task.create({ data: { content: data.content } }); return new Response(JSON.stringify({ data: task }), { headers: { 'Content-Type': 'appli

Setting Up Route Handlers in Your App Setting Up Route Handlers in Your App In this guide, we will walk through the setup for route handlers in your application. Follow these steps to create an API endpoint that handles HTTP requests. Step 1: Create the API Directory First, you need to create a special directory named API . This name is mandatory. Step 2: Define the URL Segment Inside the API directory, decide on a URL segment for your endpoint. For this example, we will use /tasks . This segment name is optional and can be customized. Step 3: Create the Route File Next, create a special file inside your chosen segment directory. Instead of naming it page.js , you should name it route.js . This file will contain the functions that handle different HTTP requests. Step 4: Export Functions for HTTP Methods From the route.js file, export functions that correspond to the HTTP methods you want to handle. Here

Route Handlers in Next.js: A Powerful Alternative for Serverless Functions Route Handlers in Next.js: A Powerful Alternative for Serverless Functions Next.js offers multiple ways to handle server-side logic and data fetching. While server actions are the latest addition, route handlers remain a powerful and versatile tool for creating serverless functions within your project. This article explores route handlers in detail, their advantages, and when they might be the preferred approach. Understanding Route Handlers Route handlers essentially act as custom request handlers for specific routes in your Next.js application. They leverage the familiar Web Request and Response APIs, providing a great deal of control over how requests are handled on the server. Why Use Route Handlers? While server actions offer a more streamlined approach, route handlers shine in specific scenarios: Fine-grained Server-Side Logic: Route handlers provide a high lev

Interactive Component Challenge Interactive Component Challenge At the very end of this tutorial, let's work on a small challenge. First, you'll need to decide to which component you want to add more interactivity. You can choose to make either the delete button or the edit form more interactive. If you feel particularly ambitious, you can work on both. Once you have made your decision, pick the functionality you want to add. Everything starts from the pending state and goes all the way to awesome posts. Keep in mind that for the most part, the syntax and setup are exactly the same as we already have in the task form custom. Although it might seem a bit tedious because we need to grab a few hooks and set up a separate button, remember that it's mostly the same process. This consistency makes adding interactivity easier in the long run. In my case, I'm going to add the pendin

Adding Toast Notifications to Your React App with React Hot Toast Adding Toast Notifications to Your React App with React Hot Toast In this article, we'll guide you through incorporating beautiful toast notifications into your React application using the React Hot Toast library. In the process, we'll also explore a general approach to setting up global components or wrappers required by other libraries. What are Toast Notifications? Toast notifications are temporary pop-up messages that appear on the screen, often used to inform users about actions or events within an application. React Hot Toast provides a lightweight and customizable solution for adding these notifications to your React projects. Installation Begin by stopping your development server (if it's running). Install React Hot Toast using npm: npm install react-ho

Zod Library: Detailed Guide with Examples Zod Library: Detailed Guide with Examples This guide explores the Zod library, a powerful tool for complex user input validation in Vue.js applications. It goes beyond basic checks like empty values and empowers you to define robust data schemas for your forms. Installation Open your terminal and navigate to your project directory. Run the following command to install the Zod library: npm install zod Importing Zod In your Vue component file (e.g., actions.js ), import Zod at the beginning: import { z } from 'zod'; Creating a Zod Schema To define your schema. Here's an example for a basic task creation: const createTaskSchema = z.object({ content: Z.string().min(5), // Must be a string with minimum 5 characters });

Passing Parameters in Vue Events: Detailed Guide with Examples Passing Parameters in Vue Events: Detailed Guide with Examples Introduction Events are fundamental in creating interactive interfaces with Vue.js. They allow users to interact with UI elements and trigger specific actions. An important part of event handling is passing parameters from the triggered event to the function defined in the Vue component. This guide will explore in detail how to accomplish this, providing clear and illustrative examples. Passing Parameters to Functions The basic syntax for passing parameters to a function triggered by an event is as follows: <element v-on:event="func(parameters)"> </element> element : The HTML element where the event is captured. event : The type of event desired (e.g., click , input , mouseenter ). func : The name of the function defined in the Vue component. p

Events in Vue with v-on: A Detailed Guide with Examples Events in Vue with v-on: A Detailed Guide with Examples Introduction Events are a fundamental part of any interactive application, allowing users to interact with the graphical interface and trigger actions. In Vue.js, event handling is achieved using the v-on directive or its shorthand version, @ . This detailed guide will explore how to use v-on to capture various types of events and bind them to methods defined within the Vue component. We'll also delve into the advantages of using @ as an alternative to v-on and showcase how @input can be used as a substitute for the v-model directive. Using v-on to Capture Events The v-on directive is used to associate a specific event with an action defined in the Vue component. The basic syntax is as follows: <element v-on:event="method()"> </el

Error Checking in Server Actions for React Applications with useFormState Implementing Error Checking in Server Actions for React Applications with useFormState This article guides you through adding error checking to server actions in a React application. We'll leverage the `useFormState` hook to simplify state management and error handling. Clear explanations and examples will make the process easy to follow. The Importance of Error Handling Imagine you're building a to-do list app. Users should be able to add new tasks, but what happens if something goes wrong during creation? Error checking ensures a smooth user experience by gracefully handling unexpected issues like database errors or invalid data. Introducing useFormState `useFormState` is a powerful hook from React Hook Form that simplifies managing form state and handling form submissions. It provides a clean way to access form data, control submission, and update state ba

Demystifying XSS in Vue.js: Safeguarding Your Applications Demystifying XSS in Vue.js: Safeguarding Your Applications Vue.js, a popular JavaScript framework, empowers developers to build dynamic and interactive web applications. However, as with any web development technology, security must be a top priority. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities can pose a significant threat, allowing malicious actors to inject harmful scripts into your applications. Understanding XSS XSS occurs when untrusted user-supplied data is directly rendered in a web page, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the user's browser. This can lead to various security breaches, including stealing sensitive information, redirecting users to malicious sites, or taking control of user accounts. The Role of Raw HTML and v-html In Vue.js, raw HTML can be injected into the DOM using the innerHTML property or the v-html directive. While th

Navigating the Pending State: Enhancing User Experience Navigating the Pending State: Enhancing User Experience Through Real-time Feedback In the dynamic landscape of application development, one of the pivotal challenges is ensuring that users remain informed and engaged throughout their interactions. A crucial aspect of this is managing the pending state effectively. The pending state occurs when a user initiates an action, such as form submission, and awaits the system's response. However, all too often, this critical phase is overlooked, leading to user frustration and disengagement. Recognizing the significance of addressing this gap, development teams are increasingly focusing on strategies to provide real-time feedback during the pending state, thereby enhancing the overall user experience. Understanding the Significance of the Pending State The pending state represents a transitional phase in the user journey, where users eager

Unveiling Dynamic Attributes in Vue.js: A Comprehensive Guide Unveiling Dynamic Attributes in Vue.js: A Comprehensive Guide Limitations of {{}} Interpolators While Vue.js's {{}} interpolators excel at displaying variable values within HTML elements, they cannot be directly used in element attributes. This limitation stems from the fact that HTML attributes are interpreted by the browser, not Vue.js. Introducing v-bind: To overcome this restriction, Vue.js offers the v-bind directive. This directive enables binding variable values to element attributes, making them dynamic. The syntax is straightforward: <element v-bind:attribute-name="variable-name"> </element> Example: <a v-bind:href="url">Link to {{ url }}</a> Explanation: v-bind:href binds the value of the url variable to the href attribute of the a element. {{ url }} displays the content of the url varia

Enhancing Form Editing in Web Development: A Comprehensive Guide Enhancing Form Editing in Web Development: A Comprehensive Guide Form editing is a crucial aspect of web development, enabling users to modify existing data seamlessly. Whether you're building a simple blog or a complex project management tool, understanding the intricacies of form editing can significantly enhance the user experience. In this article, we delve into the nuances of form editing, drawing insights from a detailed conversation between developers tackling form editing in a web application. Structuring the Edit Form When initiating the edit form, developers focus on structuring the form to include essential elements like ID, completion status, and content. They establish inputs for these values, ensuring a seamless editing experience for users. <!-- Sample code snippet --> const id = task.id; const completed = task.completed; const content = task.content; Setting Up Form Elements

Learning Through Trial and Error: A Path to Mastery Learning Through Trial and Error: A Path to Mastery In any field, the path to mastery often involves exploration and experimentation. Making mistakes and learning from them is a valuable way to gain new skills and improve your understanding. This article explores a recent discussion where practitioners focused on implementing a specific functionality and the importance of learning through trial and error. The discussion encouraged participants to actively explore and experiment. The idea is that even if attempts fail at times, the process itself is an invaluable learning experience. This approach aligns with the overall philosophy of continuous learning and growth within this community. The participants planned to break down the implementation process into manageable steps for better clarity and comprehension. Creating a Component // Illustrative code snippet import React from 'react'; const MyComp