The Full-Stack Framework
Next.js is no longer just a frontend framework. With the stabilization of Route Handlers, it's a fiercely capable backend. We are increasingly building complete enterprise architectures without spinning up separate Node/Express microservices.
Route Handlers provide Web Request and Response objects, making edge-computing deployment a breeze. We combine this with Prisma ORM and hosted PostgreSQL to deploy incredibly fast, horizontally scalable monoliths onto Vercel infrastructure.
Edge vs Serverless
Knowing when to deploy an API route to the Edge (low latency, restricted API access) versus standard Serverless (full Node.js API access, longer execution limits) is the key to mastering Next.js backends. We break down our middleware strategies for authentication routing at the edge.