Building Real-Time Frontend Features with React, Next.js & Firebase

In modern web applications, users expect instant feedback, dynamic updates, and seamless performance. As frontend developers, it's our job to deliver that — and frameworks like React, Next.js, and tools like Firebase make it achievable.

In this post, I’ll walk through how you can build real-time, production-ready frontend features using:

🔁 React & Next.js (for UI and routing)

⚡ Firebase Firestore (for real-time data)

🛡️ TypeScript (for code safety)

🎯 Performance optimization techniques

🧩 Tech Stack Breakdown

• React – for modular UI components

• Next.js – for SSR and fast routing

• Firebase Firestore – for real-time database & instant updates

• Tailwind CSS – for clean, responsive UI

• TypeScript – for type safety in growing codebases

🔄 Real-Time Feature Example: Resume Scoring Panel
In one of my projects, I built a dual-panel UI that lets recruiters upload a resume on one side and see real-time parsing results on the other.

Here's how it worked:

1. Firebase as a Real-Time Backend

import { onSnapshot, doc } from "firebase/firestore";

const resumeRef = doc(db, "resumes", resumeId);
onSnapshot(resumeRef, (doc) => {
setParsedData(doc.data());
});

This hook instantly updated the UI as backend processing completed — no need to refresh the page.

1. Dual Panel Layout in React

⚙️ Performance Improvements That Matter

Even with real-time updates, keeping the UI fast and responsive was key. Here’s what helped:

• Debouncing inputs: Avoid flooding Firestore with writes

• Lazy loading components with dynamic() in Next.js

• Minimizing re-renders using useMemo and React.memo

✅ Key Takeaways

You can build complex real-time UIs with React + Firebase without needing a traditional backend.

Next.js helps with performance and SEO out-of-the-box.

Clean, modular code + TypeScript = easier scaling and collaboration.