The relationship between pages/_app.js and pages/index.js in a Next.js
The relationship between pages/_app.js
and pages/index.js
in a Next.js application is foundational to how Next.js handles page rendering and application structure. Here's an overview of their roles and interplay:
pages/_app.js
- The Custom App Component:- This is a special file in Next.js that allows you to override the default App component used by Next.js.
- It's the top-level component that gets executed for every page visit. It's useful for implementing application-wide page layouts or injecting additional data into pages.
- Whatever you include in
_app.js
(like global CSS, layout components, context providers) is accessible in every page of your application. - It receives a
Component
prop, which is the active page being rendered (e.g., the content ofpages/index.js
or any other page), andpageProps
, which are props specific to each page.
pages/index.js
- A Page Component:- This file represents the homepage of your Next.js application. It's what gets rendered when users visit the root URL (
/
). - It's just one of potentially many page components in your
pages
directory. Each file in thepages
directory corresponds to a route in your application, withindex.js
being the default route. - The content of
pages/index.js
(or any other page) gets rendered as theComponent
prop inside_app.js
.
- This file represents the homepage of your Next.js application. It's what gets rendered when users visit the root URL (
How They Work Together:
- When a user visits a page in a Next.js app, Next.js first executes
_app.js
. TheComponent
prop in_app.js
is set to the current page component (likepages/index.js
for the homepage). - Any props that are fetched during server-side rendering, static generation, or client-side rendering are passed to the page component as
pageProps
. _app.js
wraps around the current page, meaning any layouts, context providers, or global styles you define in_app.js
will apply to all your pages, includingpages/index.js
.
- When a user visits a page in a Next.js app, Next.js first executes
In summary, pages/_app.js
acts as a wrapper around all page components (including pages/index.js
). It's where you implement logic, styles, or components that should be available across all pages of your application. pages/index.js
, on the other hand, is specifically for the content and logic of the homepage.
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