In Next.js, navigating between different pages of your application is a crucial aspect of building a dynamic user experience. While you could theoretically use standard <a> tags, Next.js provides a more powerful and optimized component for this purpose: the <Link> component from next/link. This component enables declarative navigation, meaning you describe what you want to navigate to, and Next.js handles the how with excellent performance benefits.
The primary advantage of using <Link> over a regular <a> tag is client-side navigation. When a user clicks a <Link>, Next.js intercepts the click and updates the URL in the browser's history without a full page reload. This results in a much faster and smoother transition between pages, mimicking the behavior of a single-page application (SPA) while leveraging the benefits of server-side rendering and static site generation that Next.js offers.
Another key feature is prefetching. When a <Link> component appears in the user's viewport, Next.js automatically prefetches the code for the linked page in the background. This means that by the time the user actually clicks the link, the page is already loaded and ready to be displayed, further enhancing perceived performance. This is a significant performance boost that you don't get with standard HTML links.
import Link from 'next/link'
function Navigation() {
return (
<nav>
<ul>
<li>
<Link href="/">
<a>Home</a>
</Link>
</li>
<li>
<Link href="/about">
<a>About</a>
</Link>
</li>
<li>
<Link href="/contact">
<a>Contact</a>
</Link>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
)
}As you can see in the example, the <Link> component wraps the content that will act as the clickable link, typically an <a> tag. The href prop is essential and specifies the path to the page you want to navigate to. Remember to import Link from next/link at the top of your component file.
It's important to note that the <a> tag is still necessary inside the <Link> component. This is because the <a> tag is what actually renders the clickable anchor in the DOM and handles the accessibility features associated with links. The <Link> component enhances this by adding the client-side routing and prefetching capabilities.
graph TD
A[User Clicks Link] --> B{Next.js Intercepts Click}
B --> C{Is Link in Viewport?}
C -- Yes --> D[Prefetch Linked Page Code]
D --> E[Update URL & Render New Page]
C -- No --> E
This diagram illustrates the flow. When a user clicks a link, Next.js checks if the link was already prefetched. Regardless, it then handles updating the URL and rendering the new page content client-side, providing a seamless navigation experience.
The <Link> component also supports dynamic routes. If you have a page like pages/posts/[id].js, you can link to it like this:
import Link from 'next/link'
function PostList() {
return (
<ul>
<li>
<Link href="/posts/1">
<a>First Post</a>
</Link>
</li>
<li>
<Link href="/posts/2">
<a>Second Post</a>
</Link>
</li>
</ul>
)
}By consistently using the <Link> component for all internal navigation, you ensure that your Next.js application provides a fast, responsive, and enjoyable user experience. It's a cornerstone of effective navigation in Next.js.