Incremental Static Regeneration with Next.js

Next.js, a popular React framework for building web applications, offers three primary methods for serving content: static site generation (SSG), server-side rendering (SSR), and the hybrid approach of Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR). SSG, recommended by the Next.js team, generates HTML at build time, which is optimal for caching and fast delivery, making it suitable for blogs and documentation sites. In contrast, SSR generates HTML on each request, providing flexibility for frequently updated data but at the cost of increased server load and reduced caching efficiency. ISR, introduced in Next.js v9.5, allows for static page regeneration during runtime, merging the benefits of SSG and SSR. It uses a "stale-while-revalidate" caching strategy to serve a fallback page while data is fetched, enhancing performance and user experience. Version 12 introduced on-demand ISR, enabling developers to trigger page revalidation through an API route. The choice among these strategies depends on the specific needs of the application, with SSG prioritized for performance, followed by ISR and SSR for more dynamic content.