💬 I know React, so do I have to learn Next.js from scratch?

I've been learning React for about 4 months. I built a weather app and a small expense tracker. Both work, and I'm proud of them, though neither is anything an employer would call real. Then I started reading job posts, and half of them said Next.js in the first 2 lines. A few of them didn't even mention React, as if everybody already knew it was inside. I watched the first 20 minutes of a Next.js course on a Saturday. Folders, pages, something called routing. There was a server part and a client part, and a word I'd never seen, hydration. I closed the video and felt like I'd forgotten everything I learned in React. That feeling is the reason I'm asking, because I don't want to waste another 3 months. My friend Imran works at a small company in Hitech City and says it's mostly the same thing. My other friend says no, learn Node and a database first, then think about Next.js later. They both sound sure of themselves, which doesn't help me at all. I only have about 2 hours every night, so I can't try everything. What did you do? Did you jump into Next.js right away, or build more with plain React first? Should I rebuild my expense tracker in it, or start a new project from zero? I'd also like to know which parts of React I should be solid on before I start. Any order that worked for you is fine. I'm only looking for a path to follow.

Thanks Saud. Rebuilding the expense tracker sounds good because I already know every screen it needs. I'll try it this weekend and see how the pages folder works compared to my old setup. Quick question: did you deploy it somewhere free, or only run it on your own laptop? Imran will be annoyed that you agreed with him, but I'll tell him anyway.

You don't start over. It's still React, with routing and server stuff already set up for you.