Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
Generating HTML on the server for each request, so the page arrives ready to display instead of loading as a blank shell.
Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is a technique where the server generates the full HTML for a page on each request, sends it to the browser, and then React "hydrates" the page to make it interactive. The user sees content immediately instead of a blank page followed by a loading spinner.
SSR matters for two reasons: performance (the page is visible faster, especially on slow connections) and SEO (search engines can read the full content without executing JavaScript). Next.js supports SSR by default through React Server Components and the App Router.
For vibe coders, SSR is mostly handled by the framework. When you create a page in Next.js, it renders on the server automatically. The skill is knowing when to use client components ("use client" for interactive UI) versus server components (default, for data fetching and static content).
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