A comprehensive walkthrough of every major web rendering and hydration strategy, from static generation and CSR through SSR, streaming SSR, islands architecture, React Server Components, TanStack Start's client-first RSC model, fine-grained reactivity (SolidJS, Svelte 5), and Qwik's resumability. Each approach is explained with code examples, trade-offs, and guidance on when to use it. The piece also covers Next.js 16.3's Cache Components and Partial Prefetching features that aim to give server-rendered apps SPA-like instant navigations. Concludes with practical decision guidance: static + islands for content sites, RSC-based frameworks for apps, and more exotic strategies only when a specific measured problem demands them.
Table of contents
Server-side rendering 🔗Streaming SSR: send the page in pieces 🔗Islands: hydrate only the interactive parts 🔗React Server Components: don’t send the component to the client 🔗TanStack Start: the same primitive, ownership flipped 🔗Fine-grained reactivity: hydrate once, then never re-render 🔗Resumability: don’t hydrate at all 🔗Next.js 16.3: closing the last gap with instant navigations 🔗How to actually choose 🔗References 🔗68.2K Impressions4 Comments