5 Tips for a Novice React Developer

Introduction

When we talk about JavaScript, we are talking about the best scripting programming language available on the market.

Java became popular because of its enriched library and 'just-in-time compiling' mechanism.

React is a front-end, open-source, JavaScript library for building UI components or user interfaces. The maintenance of this library is done by Facebook along with independent developers.

Eight years ago, in mid of 2013, React was noticed globally. Since then, it has outperformed other libraries.

If you are new to React development and need great resources to make yourself better, this article is for you. This article will shed light on the top 5 tips that every novice React developer should follow.

1. Choosing IDE with a Linter

As a beginner-level developer, you should always look for a better editor. This means finding an editor that is fast, effective, and can debug code when the need emerges.

There are several IDE options available on the internet. Among them, the VS Code comes with its own additional features that make it similar to an IDE, thereby giving it an edge over other editors.

VS Code was designed in the year 2015 by Microsoft as a cross-platform editor for writing web and cloud applications. VS Code comes with features like debugging, syntax highlighting, embedded Git control, and so on.

All these above features reduce the amount of effort you have to put into grunt work.

A linter with an IDE is a must for every developer, even for beginners. The ESLint is the most famous liner for VS Code.

2. Use Functional Components

In day-to-day programming, you might have to face a situation where several components have only one purpose or goal. Let me give you an example.

// Class components
class Watch extends React.Component {
    render () {
   	 return <div>{this.props.hours}:{this.props.minutes}</div>
    }
}
// Equivalent functional component
const Watch = (props) =>
    <div>{props.hours}:{props.minutes}</div>;

Both the above class-based component and functional component have one goal: to display the data.

However,

the Watch function

3. Properly Name your React Component

A final JavaScript application might have a hundred or thousand lines of code. It is hard to find out the specific variable, function, or component within this enormous amount of code while debugging.

Properly naming your React components is a good practice. For instance:

export default () => {};
export default class extends React.Component {};

Should we use a default or named import?

Remember that a default import doesn’t ensure that the component’s name is consistent in the project. Therefore, you have to define the class name or the variable name that’s hosting the component.

export const Component = () => <h1>This is a component</h1>;
export default Component;
// Defining the component name
Component.showName = 'My Demo Component';

4. Follow a Code Standard

A code standard defines a disciplined code, which makes your life better.

Following a standard helps your teammate or colleagues with the debugging process. Now the question is, which standard should you follow?

Well, obviously, a beginner should follow the JavaScript Standard Style. It is the most and widely used standard globally. The beauty of the standard is that it's simple.

No one wants to maintain multiple hundred-line style configuration files for every project they work on. Moreover, it doesn’t require configuration and formats the code automatically when you run

standard --fix.

Severals tech giant companies like Heroku, GoDaddy, Zendesk, and Brave follow this standard.

5. Knowing the Right Amount of JavaScript

Last but not least, learning the right amount of JavaScript is a must to become a good React developer.

Please do not continue on without a clear concept on JavaScript’s Variables, Datatypes, Functions, Arrays, Class, and Objects, Importing and Exporting, Manipulating DOM, and working with API. Otherwise later on, you’ll face a big hurdle.

Apart from this, I’d like to recommend you avoid learning Redux, Mobx, Flux, or any other state management library at the beginning. Do NOT dig in right this moment. Redux and Flux are very hard to grasp initially. It may hamper your learning process.

Wrapping Up

If you have a solid foundation of understanding of the above concepts, you’ll be able to have a good shot at learning at React. Working with React can even make you a better JavaScript developer!