A Guide to Understanding and Using React Server Components

Over the past decade, React has seen significant updates, notably the introduction of Hooks in version 16.8, which shifted the focus from Class to Function components. The latest evolution, React Server Components (RSCs), allows components to run entirely on the server, enabling functionalities like asynchronous operations and direct database queries within components without intermediary APIs. This development addresses the long-standing issue of the "ping-ponging" of requests in React apps by eliminating the need for repeated client-server interactions. RSCs require that all code be serializable as they render only once on the server and do not re-render on the client, which makes many traditional React APIs incompatible. In this new framework, components are divided into Server Components, which handle non-interactive parts for simplicity and performance, and Client Components, which manage state, effects, and interactivity. The React team has provided guidelines for distinguishing between these two types, emphasizing that if a component can be a Server Component, it should be. The integration of RSCs with frameworks like Next.js, which supports them via the App Router, simplifies data fetching by embedding queries directly within components, resulting in cleaner, more efficient code that reduces JavaScript load on the client side. This approach enhances performance by minimizing the client-side workload and introduces features like client boundaries to manage component interactions, ensuring seamless integration between Server and Client Components.