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Early Days Learning React.js 🙂

Published on by Curtis King

React.js is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It was developed by Facebook and has gained a lot of popularity among developers due to its simplicity, flexibility, and high performance. In this article, we will discuss the basic fundamentals of React.js and how to get started with it.

What is React.js?

React.js is a JavaScript library used for building user interfaces. It allows developers to create reusable UI components and manage their state efficiently. React.js follows a declarative programming model, which means that developers only need to specify what the UI should look like, and React.js takes care of the rest.

Basic Concepts I've Been Learning So Far

Components

Components are the building blocks of a React.js application. They can be thought of as individual pieces of the UI that can be reused across the application. Components can be classified into two types: functional components and class components.
Functional components are simple functions that take in some input (called props) and return JSX (JavaScript XML) elements, which describe what the component should render. Here's an example:

Class components, on the other hand, are ES6 classes that extend the React.Component class. They have a render method that returns JSX elements. Here's an example:

JSX

JSX is a syntax extension to JavaScript that allows developers to write HTML-like syntax in their JavaScript code. It allows developers to create UI elements using a syntax that is similar to HTML, but with the full power of JavaScript.

Props and State

Props and state are two concepts that are central to React.js.
Props are used to pass data from a parent component to a child component. They are immutable, which means that they cannot be changed by the child component. Here's an example:

State, on the other hand, is used to manage data that can change over time. State is mutable, which means that it can be changed by the component that owns it. Here's an example:

Summary

In this blog post, we learned about the fundamentals of React.js and the benefits it provides over Vanilla JavaScript. Some of these benefits include:

  • Easy creation of reusable components
  • Improved performance through virtual DOM
  • Better debugging through component isolation

Overall, React.js is a powerful library that can help developers build dynamic, high-performance web applications with ease. As you begin to learn and work with React.js, keep in mind the benefits it provides and how you can use them to your advantage.

What are some other benefits of using React.js that you've experienced?