// the find
gitdagray/next-js-course
Course companion repo for a 12-chapter YouTube series teaching Next.js 13 app router to beginners. Each chapter is a standalone project in its own directory, walking through routing, data fetching, SSG/SSR/ISR, API routes, middleware, and MDX content. This is reference code for video learners, not a library or framework.
Progressive chapter structure means you can compare next06 (basic blog) against next12 (MDX blog with remote content) and see exactly what changed. Covers the app router model properly — server components, route handlers, middleware — rather than teaching the old pages/ paradigm exclusively. Chapter 9 shows a real rate limiter wired into API routes, which most beginner courses skip. TypeScript throughout with actual type definitions in types.d.ts.
Targets Next.js 13 specifically, which is two major versions behind — the app router has changed enough that some patterns (especially around caching and revalidation) will mislead beginners trying to apply this to Next.js 14 or 15. No tests anywhere across 12 chapters, so learners have no model for how to test Next.js apps. Each chapter is a fresh install with its own package-lock.json and node_modules, which is practical for video following but bloats the repo and makes dependency drift across chapters invisible. Last commit was May 2024 with no indication this will track future Next.js changes.