Server Side Rendering

Server Side Rendering refers to the method where the user's request to the server is processed on the server and the output is transmitted to the browser. Briefly, it can be explained as doing the job that the browser will do on the server.

Server Side Rendering is a structure supported by Google. Server Side Rendering includes its own libraries. They only need additional systems in some cases.

How Does Server Side Rendering Work?

In the Server Side Rendering method, the server sends an HTML response to the connection requests coming from the server. When the HTML response is sent back, the JavaScript codes are inactive, but even if the JavaScript files do not work, the content can be read by the user. The page is not dynamic in this condition. After this phase, the browser starts to read and parse the HTML file. Then the JavaScript code kicks in and the page starts taking advantage of the dynamic benefits provided by the JavaScript library.

Advantages of Server Side Rendering

• The biggest advantage of SSR is its support for SEO. All pages are rendered separately, and the content reads more easily by search engine bots because it is sent as HTML.
• All pages are scanned, indexed, and separate and specific meta-studies are done for each page.
• Fast loading of websites is a critical criterion in terms of user experience. One of the indices of all search engines is the website's page speed or loading speed. SSR allows pages to load faster, enhancing the user experience. This encourages visitors to enter the website.
• One of the significant benefits of SSR is not to leave the user on a blank page during initial loading like in Client Side Rendering. The pages load quickly.
• There is less dependency on JavaScript.
• It aids the loading of the page even if the user's device is not updated.

Disadvantages of Server Side Rendering

• There is a greater number of requests going to the server. This equates to more load on the server.
• Server costs are high.
• In fast applications where speed is critical, and data is exchanged by the second, the interaction is not as good as Client Side Rendering.
• Navigation between pages is slow as all the pages need to load again at every movement.

When Should Server Side Rendering Be Preferred?

It is used in simple interface projects where there are a small number of pages and features and not a large target audience.

Server Side Rendering Frameworks

Frameworks provide tools and libraries to simplify web development. Using a server-side framework makes the developers' jobs much easier. So, which frameworks support SSR?

Angular Universal

Angular is a JavaScript framework developed by Google, written in TypeScript, and open source, allowing for the creation of SPA (Single Page Application) applications.

With the use of the Angular Universal package, users can create server-side applications.

NextJS

Next.js is a framework used to create server-side websites. It works with React.

Express JS

Express JS is a fast, free, and high-performance server-side web framework used for Node.js.

Also, there are frameworks for Vue like Nuxt.js and Quasar.

How to Choose Server-Side Frameworks?

When choosing the server-side framework to be used in the project, the important factors to consider are:

1- Ease of Learning: One of the factors to consider when choosing a server-side framework is how easy it is to learn and use the framework.

2- Productivity: The productivity of the framework to be used is also an important factor. The right method here is to choose the framework according to its suitability to the project.

3- Security: Security is one of the most important issues to consider when choosing a server-side framework. If there are important and sensitive data in the project, a secure framework that blocks cyber-attacks, eliminates security risks and threats to data confidentiality should be chosen.