Using Next.JS to build Static Dynamic Websites... and never pay for font-end hosting again!

Save 10s of dollars a month!

Next.js is a static & dynamic site rendering tool for websites based on React. We can use Next.js to flatten and build static sites for us using React. We can then upload these packs to Github Pages for a freely hosted website. This talk will focus less on the React part of things, and more on the "devops" tools we use to build and host the site - Next, Circle.CI, and Github Pages

Related Repository: https://github.com/evantahler/next-static-hosting

This is how we build www.actionherojs.com

Transcript

1. Using Next.JS to
   build Static Dynamic
   Websites
   and never pay for hosting again!
   @evantahler
   https://github.com/evantahler/next-static-hosting
   

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4. Goals
   ● Use React to create our website
   ○ A statically compiled front-end that still allows for dynamic content
   ● Pay 0$ for hosting
   ● HTTPS + Custom Domain*
   ● Continuous deployment with a test suite
   ○ Git push -> (wait) -> live site
   ● Use a CDN to make things snappy around the world
   This is overkill for many sites, but free production-grade ops? Why not!
   

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5. next-static-hosting.evantahler.com
   

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6. Tools
   This will be a “devops”-focused talk 1. Next.JS
   2. Github
   3. Circle.CI
   4. Github Pages
   All Free for Open Source Projects + Students!
   

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7. 1. Next.JS
   ● React + a sane router, webpack, server-side-rendering
   and all the annoying stuff handled for you
   ● “Page” top-level components
   ● `next dev` - hot reload when developing
   ● `next build` - pre-compile pages for faster serving
   ● `next export` - compile HTML, JS and CSS
   

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10. 2. Circle.CI
    Build Process triggered after every `git push`
    1. “Build”
    2. “Test”
    3. “Deploy”
    

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11. Our Workflow
    

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15. 3. Github Pages
    Free Hosting for static assets!
    1. Almost no configuration
    2. Domain Name Mapping via C-Names
    3. Hosting for a chosen branch
    a. Usually called “gh-pages”
    

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16. 3. Github Pages - Gotchas
    We want to make a separate branch for hosting automagically
    - called gh-pages
    1. “Read” Key vs “Write” Key - Github Access from Circle.CI
    2. CNAME File - needs to be in your gh-pages branch
    3. Tell Circle.CI not to test the gh-pages branch
    4. Tell Github you don’t want to build a Jekyl site
    

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17. Deploy Steps
    ● NPM install
    ● Next Build
    ● Next Export
    ● Copy to a new folder that maps to the gh-pages branch
    ● Copy next export files + CNAME file
    ● (force) push to gh-pages branch
    

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20. ssh-keygen -m PEM -t rsa -C "your_email@example.com"
    

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22. DNS Configuration
    

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23. next-static-hosting.evantahler.com
    

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24. Thanks!
    @evantahler | www.evantahler.com
    https://github.com/evantahler/next-static-hosting
    

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