How To Code in React.js

About this Book

React seems to be everywhere. Companies and projects large and small are using it to build their applications. The popularity comes from the fact that React builds on core web development skills. That’s not to say you will learn it in a day or that every feature is easy to understand on the first try. Instead, React excels precisely because it minimizes the amount of Reactspecific knowledge you need. You don’t need to learn about templates or controllers or complex patterns. Instead, most of the code you write will be JavaScript combined with standard HTML. It can get complicated from there. The HTML, for example, is really a markup language called JSX that is parsed by React before going into the DOM. But as you take each step in your learning you will be building on solid foundations of web development. That means you gain a double benefit as your learn React. Not only will you be building world class applications, you will be strengthening your own knowledge of JavaScript and web standards. You will develop transferable skills that you can use in any future web-based application whether it’s built with React or not.

This book is an introduction to React that works from the foundations upward. Each chapter takes you a little deeper into the React ecosystem, building on your previous knowledge. Along the way, you’ll maintain internal state, pass information between parts of an application, and explore different options for styling your application. Whether you are completely new to React or if you’ve worked with it before, this series will be accessible to you. Every chapter is self contained, so you can jump between chapters or skip whole sections. The book is designed for you to take a concept and explore it by building a small project that mirrors what you will see in everyday development.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

By the end of the book, you’ll have a strong understanding of the different parts of a React application and you’ll be able to combine the parts together to build individual components and whole applications. You’ll be able to build small applications that use external data and respond to user actions. You’ll also learn how to debug and optimize your application to make the best user experience.