A Comprehensive Guide to Nested Routes in Next Js

Nested routes in Next.js can be a bit tricky, but understanding how they work is crucial for building robust and scalable applications.

Next.js allows you to create nested routes using the `pages` directory structure, where each subdirectory represents a nested route.

By organizing your routes in a hierarchical manner, you can easily manage complex navigation flows and make your code more maintainable.

For example, if you have a `posts` page with nested routes for individual posts, you can create a `pages/posts` directory with files like `[id].js` for each post.

Creating layouts with the Pages Router is a bit more involved than the App Router, but it's still relatively straightforward. To create a nested shared layout, you need to nest a new layout that renders the sidebar navigation within the root layout.

The Pages Router doesn't support requiring one layout for the entire application, so you'll need to create a new layout file for each nested route segment. For example, if you want to create a nested layout for pages under the /dashboard/* route segments, you'll need to create a new layout file called components/DashboardLayout.js.

This file should export a component that returns a shared UI for these pages and uses the children prop to render their respective content. In each of the /dashboard/* page files, you'll need to apply a getLayout property on the page component and return the desired layout tree.

Here's a simple example of how the /dashboard/account.js file might look:

* DashboardLayout is nested within the RootLayout.

By applying the getLayout property to the other page components under the /dashboard/* route, you'll get the desired layout where the state persists between page transitions.

Route Management is incredibly easy in Next.js. You can create nested layouts in the Next.js App Router by adding a layout.js file inside a specific folder to define the UI.

To create a nested shared layout for pages under the /dashboard/* route segments, simply add a layout.js file inside the dashboard folder. This layout will be nested within the root layout and will wrap all the pages in the /dashboard/* route segment.

In Next.js, you can define routes and paths using folders and files. This is called File-Based Routing. Every page in Next.js is a React component exported from a file in the pages directory.

To create a nested route, create a folder inside the pages directory and add an index.js file to it. This will be the root entry for that directory and will be associated with the corresponding route.

You can create nested routes by adding more files to the folder. For example, if you have a file named my-first-post.js, it will map to the /posts/my-first-post route. This way, you can have multiple levels of nested routes.

In Next.js, you can access pages using either the full path or a shortened version. For example, if you have a folder called blog, you can access the page index.js by typing http://localhost:3000/pages/blog or simply http://localhost:3000/blog.

Route configuration is a crucial aspect of Next.js, and understanding how to configure routes will make your development process much smoother.

In Next.js, you can create custom route groups to organize related routes. This can be done by wrapping the group name in parentheses, allowing you to customize the UI as desired.

To create a route group, you'll need to wrap the group name in parentheses. For example, if you have a custom route group containing the Newsletter route, you'll wrap it in parentheses, like this: (custom).

You can also create dynamic routes in Next.js using square brackets, [id].js. This allows you to create routes that can handle dynamic data, such as post IDs.

Dynamic routes require creating a file whose name is enclosed in square brackets, [filename].js. For example, if you have a posts page that displays all the posts, you can create a dynamic route for a single post page by creating a file named [postId].js.

Nested routes are another type of route configuration in Next.js. This type of route is created by creating a folder in the pages directory and then adding files to it.

Here are some key points to remember about nested routes:

Nested dynamic routes can be created by using square brackets in the folder name. For example, if you have a product folder with a dynamic route for a single product page, you can create a nested dynamic route for a review page by creating a sub-folder named [productId] and an index.js file within it.

In summary, route configuration in Next.js is a powerful tool that allows you to create custom route groups, dynamic routes, and nested routes. By understanding how to configure routes, you can create a more organized and efficient development process.

Next.js makes routing a breeze, and one of the key concepts is file-based routing, where you define routes using folders and files in the pages directory. This approach eliminates the need for complex routing configurations.

In Next.js, every page is a React component exported from a file in the pages directory, and every file in the pages directory is treated as a route based on its file name. The index.js file in each directory is the root entry for that directory.

To create a nested route, you simply create a folder in the pages directory and add files to it. The index.js file in the nested folder becomes the root entry for that directory, and you can access the nested pages by adding the folder name to the URL.

Dynamic routes are created using square brackets in the file name, like [id].js. This allows you to create routes that can handle dynamic data, like post IDs or comment IDs. Next.js provides a useRouter hook that gives you access to the router object and its query property, which contains the dynamic data.

Nested routes can be created by using a nested folder structure, and you can even nest dynamic routes by using square brackets in the folder names. This allows you to create complex routing structures that are easy to manage and maintain.

In Next.js, the 'pages' directory serves as the root directory, corresponding to the path '/'. This file system-based routing allows for a straightforward approach to implementing nested routes.

To introduce nested routes, create sub-directories inside the 'pages' directory. For example, a file named 'nested_page.js' suggests that a nested route is being implemented.

The 'pages' directory can contain multiple sub-directories, each representing a nested route. This hierarchical structure enables the nesting of multiple directories and their corresponding routes.

Creating sub-directories within a sub-directory allows for further nesting of routes, making it easier to manage complex routing structures.

To implement nested routes in Next.js, start by creating a new application using the command `npx create-next-app <>`. This will create a basic Next.js project structure.

Next, install all the required npm dependencies to ensure you have the necessary tools for nested routing.

The initial project structure will look like the image provided, with a crucial observation of the file structure, as Next.js implements file structure-based routing.

Create a new page called `index.js` inside the newly created `nested` directory, which will be the root page for the `nested` directory.

Create a new page called `nested_page.js` inside the `nested` directory to see the nested route in action.

The URL `http://localhost:3000/nested/nested_page` will load the page we have nested inside the `nested` directory, which is `nested_page.js`.

To create a new page, follow the same process as before and create a new page called `articles.js` inside the `pages` directory.

Articles can be categorized based on their topics, requiring nested routing. Create a directory called `articles` inside the `pages` directory and create different categories of articles, such as `dsa.js`, within the `articles` directory.

The nested route corresponding to the nested directory will be automatically generated by Next.js.

The file structure after the creation of our first nested route can be seen below, showing the newly created `articles` directory and its nested `dsa` directory.

To create a nested route in Next.js, you'll want to create a folder in the pages directory. This folder will contain the root entry for that directory, which will be associated with a specific route.

You can add more nested pages by creating more files within that folder. For example, if you have a file named my-first-post.js, it will map to the /posts/my-first-post route.

You can even create a nested folder structure within the pages directory. This allows you to have multiple levels of nested pages. For instance, if you have a folder called blog, which contains three files, you can access the blog pages as http://localhost:3000/pages/blog.

Using the file name index.js automatically tells Next.js that this is the root file. You can access the other pages within the blog folder by using the URL http://localhost:3000/blog/first or http://localhost:3000/blog/second.

This nested page route structure can be repeated, allowing you to have multiple levels of nesting. For example, the blog folder can even have another folder in it with its pages.