Next.js 14 has been released with a new turbopack and stable server actions. The updated version was announced at the annual Next.js Conf, where the team described Next.js 14 as their most focused release.
Next.js is a page-based routing system with support for dynamic routes. It automatically statically optimizes pages when possible, and carries out server-side rendering of pages with blocking data requirements.
The improvements to the new version start with the Turbopack. This follows work that has been ongoing since the release of Next.js 13 to improve local development performance in Next.js in both the Pages and App Router. The developers say they've been rewriting parts of Next.js to support this, and are now taking an incremental approach meaning the Rust-based compiler will reach stability soon, as the team has refocused on supporting all Next.js features first. They say 5,000 integration tests are now passing with Turbopack, the underlying Rust engine. The team has reported up to 53 percent faster local server startup, and up to 94 percent faster code updated with Fast Refresh, and they say these are practical results of performance improvements you should expect with a large application (and large module graph).
The second major improvement in the new version is a stable version of Server Actions. These simplify the developer experience of authoring data mutations, and improve the user experience when the user has a slow network connection, or when submitting a form from a lower-powered device.
Server Actions make it possible to define a function that runs securely on the server, called directly from your React components. The improvement has been possible because Next.js has now upgraded to the latest React canary, which includes stable Server Actions.
This release also includes a preview of partial pre-rendering, a compiler optimization for dynamic content with a fast initial static response.
Kotlin Ktor 3 is now available with better performance and improvements including support for server-sent events and CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection.
Apache Fury has been updated to add GraalVM native images and with optimized serializers for Scala collection. The update also reduces Scala collection serialization cost via the use of encoding [ ... ]
Since Next.js 13, we've been working to improve local development performance in Next.js in both the Pages and App Router.
Previously, we were rewriting next dev and other parts of Next.js to support this effort. We have since changed our approach to be more incremental. This means our Rust-based compiler will reach stability soon, as we've refocused on supporting all Next.js features first.
5,000 integration tests for next dev are now passing with Turbopack
, our underlying Rust engine. These tests include 7 years of bug fixes and reproductions.
While testing on vercel.com, a large Next.js application, we've seen:
Up to 53.3% faster local server startup
Up to 94.7% faster code updates with Fast Refresh
This benchmark is a practical result of performance improvements you should expect with a large application (and large module graph). With 90% of tests for next dev now passing, you should see faster and more reliable performance consistently when using next dev --turbo.
Once we hit 100% of tests passing, we'll move Turbopack to stable in an upcoming minor release. We'll also continue to support using webpack for custom configurations and ecosystem plugins.
