5 React Development Tips and Tricks For Newbies

So you recently learned React.js, and your experience with JavaScript frameworks is a bit on the green side. One of the best things you can do to facilitate your journey to becoming an expert React developer is to listen to your elders. Speak to any veteran developer, and one thing usually admitted is that they wished they knew certain things earlier, specifically in the early days of their career.

Assuming you know the core basics of developing in React, we can jump into essential subjects such as component, state, and props. However, if you aren’t familiar with any of these words, you can learn more about getting started on the official React page. If you feel you’re ready to improve on the necessary skills, write better codes, and build better projects, here are five tips and tricks to help you level up as a React developer.

Use Small Components

This is perhaps one of the obvious tips you’ll hear. If you know anything about software development, you’re aware that small modules or classes are easier to work around. And React components are no different. However, many beginners do not realize just how small React components need to be.

Sure, the actual size will be dependent on several factors, such as the preferences of you or your team. But as a rule of thumb, you should keep your components smaller than you originally intended. If you have any doubts, you can consult a ReactJS development company to help finish up any important projects as you work your way to sharpen your React skills. 

Ensure That Components Are Functional

In the past, you could use two different elements to define React components. The first of these elements was React.createClass(), and the second was ES6 classes. However, the release of React 0.14 brought a new syntax that defined components of React in terms of functions of props. This change is a more favorable way of defining React components.

Firstly, the syntax it offers is relatively more concise. Even better, the new syntax helps you identify components that need splitting up. Thus, allowing you to keep your component small with less hassle. This is an easy way to keep everything small and well-named without changing the code’s final result.

Use Redux.js

If you like to use React mainly for views, one question that usually pops up is, “where do all the state and logic go?” But for those familiar with Flux, you know it’s a pattern, style, or architecture used to design web apps and often ones that render with React. You can find many frameworks for implementing the results of Flux.

One of the best of these alternative frameworks is Redux.js. You can read the entire Redux tutorial to get up to speed. For beginners, Redux provides a simple and clean method of executing several concepts using a tiny API. Therefore, changing a large project from Alt.js to Redux gives beginners several advantages in pure function reducers and many others.

Don’t Forget propTypes

As a beginner, you’re looking for easy ways to execute and complete even a decent-sized project. propTypes provide a straightforward and reliable way to make your components more type safety elements. During the development phase, for your parts that do not receive a required prop or any that receive the wrong type, React creates an error log to notify you. You can expect the following benefits from propTypes:

• It’s capable of detecting bugs early by checking minor mistakes.  
• There will be no need to check for null or undefined provided you use required regularly.
• It serves as documentation because it saves readers the hassle of checking all components for required props.

Where you prefer dynamic typing or not, giving propTypes, a try can be incredibly beneficial.

Choose Shallow Rendering

One of the more tricky topics in React development is testing. Testing is tricking not necessarily because it is difficult but because this area of React is still evolving. Therefore, there’s yet to be any single approach that offers the best results. Currently, one of the easiest testing methods that favor beginners is shallow testing and prop assertions.

You may find shallow rendering appealing because it enables you to completely render an individual component without dealing with any of its sub-components. Instead, you’ll get information about the props and type of sub-components from the test result. With this option, you can quickly isolate single components and test them one at a time.

Conclusion

The world of coding can be at times lonely and confusing. Fortunately, you can join communities and forums where you share insights and learn from more experienced developers. Apart from this, you will also find these five tips and hacks very instrumental in giving you a significant head-start on React.

You can now avoid some common pitfalls that hinder the works of many beginners in React development. And never forget that components in React are very similar to functions. Therefore, it’s possible to split them into multiples. Also, they allow you to combine or compose them in several ways without changing the result you get.

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