A Guide in Developing a Financial Dashboard in Next.js

Table of Content

Section	Description
Introduction	Overview of Next.js and its role in building full-stack web applications.
Creating the Next.js App	Instructions to start a new Next.js app with step-by-step guidance.
Project Structure	Description of the project folder structure and how each component fits into the overall architecture.
Setup Instructions	Steps to navigate to the project directory, install dependencies, and start the development server.
Dashboard Page	Details on the Dashboard page: displays key financial metrics, trends, and provides an overview of financial health.
Invoices Page	Features of the Invoices page: managing, viewing, and editing invoices, with real-time data fetching and API integration.
Authentication	Overview of using NextAuth.js for authentication, including session management and sign-in/sign-out functionality.
Advantages of Using Next.js	Highlights the benefits of using Next.js, including SSR, file-based routing, and built-in API routes.
Conclusion	A brief conclusion summarizing why Next.js is a strong choice for modern web development.

Next.js is a flexible React Framework that gives you building blocks to create fast, full-stack web applications. Let's spend some time expanding on what React and Next.js are and how they can help you build web applications.

Building Blocks of web application

• User Interface - how users will consume and interact with your application.
• Routing - how users navigate between different parts of the application
• Data Fetching - where your data lives and how to get it
• Rendering - when and where you render static or dynamic content

Setting up the Next.js Project

Before you start creating the project, you'll system will need to meet the following requirements:

1. Node.js 18.17.0 or later installed. Install Here

2. Operating Systems: macOS,Windows(including wsl) or Lunux

3. A Github Account and a Vercel Account

Installation
After installing all application and making sure your system meets all the requirements above, open your terminal app and run the following command

npx create-next-app@latest nextjs-dashboard --example "https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/main/dashboard/starter-example" --use-pnpm

.
After the prompts for creating the next app, a folder will be created while installing the required dependecies.

After cloning the repository, navigate to the project directory by cd nextjs-dashboard and install any dependecies that your computer might not have by npm install then run the development server npm run dev. Open browser and go to http://localhost:3000

To start, we need certain essential pieces, which are special code files that allow us to perform specific tasks. We bring these components into our project by using keywords like "import" to include them in our code strucuture, similar to gathering ingredients for a recipe.

Once you navigate to the folder, you will notice the project has the following structure/app: Contains all the routes, components, and logic for your application, this is where you'll be mostly working from.
/app/lib: Contains functions used in your application, such as reusable utility functions and data fetching functions.
/app/ui: Contains all the UI components for your application, such as cards, tables, and forms. To save time, we've pre-styled these components for you.
/public: Contains all the static assets for your application, such as images.
Config Files: You'll also notice config files such as next.config.js

1. The Dashboard page of the Next.js financial dashboard offers a high-level overview of financial performance. It displays key metrics like total revenue, pending invoices and monthly trends using graphs and charts to visualize data over time.This allows users to track financial health at a glance. This page is designed for efficient monitoring and analysis of revenue streams, offering users quick insights into the status of their business finances.

2. The Invoices Page of the financial dashboard built with Next.js provides a streamlined interface for managing and viewing customer invoices. users can search for invoices, create new ones and view detailed information like customer name, email , invoice amount, date and payment status (e.g., "Paid" or "Pending"). The use of dynamic data fetching ensures real-time updates. The interface also offers options to edit or delete invoices leveraging the Next.js API routes for seamless interaction with the back-end database

NextAuth.js will be used to add authentication to the app. NextAuth.js abstracts away much of the complexity involved in managing sessions, sign-in and sign-out and other aspects of authentication. NextAuth.js simplifies the process, providing a unified solution for auth in Next.js applications.

Advantages of Using Next.js as a Framework

1. Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG)
   
   Next.js offers built-in support for SSR and SSG, which significantly improve the performance and SEO of web applications. SSR generates HTML on the server side for each request, while SSG pre-renders pages at build time, enhancing load times and user experience.

2. API Routes
   
   Next.js allows developers to build full-stack applications by providing API routes. This feature eliminates the need for a separate backend server, as API endpoints can be created directly within the Next.js app, making development faster and more efficient.

3. Automatic Code Splitting
   
   With automatic code splitting, Next.js ensures that only the necessary JavaScript for a specific page is loaded, reducing the initial load time and improving performance. This is done out of the box, with no extra configuration required.

4. File-Based Routing
   
   Next.js uses a file-based routing system where the file structure of the pages directory maps directly to the URL structure. This simplifies routing setup, allowing developers to focus on building the application instead of configuring complex routing systems.

5. Built-In CSS and Sass Support
   
   Next.js offers built-in support for CSS and Sass, allowing developers to import CSS files directly into their components. It also supports CSS modules, which help in avoiding global scope CSS conflicts and enable component-level styling.

Conclusion

Next.js is a versatile framework that provides a range of features such as server-side rendering, file-based routing, and API routes, making it an excellent choice for building modern web applications. Its focus on performance, ease of use, and flexibility makes it a preferred choice for many developers.