Problem Statement
What happens behind the scenes when you navigate using Link vs a regular anchor tag in Next.js?
Explanation
When using Link, Next.js performs client-side navigation by fetching only the JavaScript and data needed for the new page without a full page reload, preserving React state and providing instant transitions through the browser's History API. Link also prefetches pages in the viewport during idle time so navigation feels instant, and it intelligently code-splits so only necessary JavaScript loads. Regular anchor tags cause full page refreshes, losing all React state, re-downloading all JavaScript and CSS, re-initializing the app, and resulting in slower navigation with visible white flashes. The browser completely unloads the current page and loads the new one from scratch, which is inefficient and provides poor user experience compared to Link's seamless client-side transitions.