Key Takeaways
- Build faster and more maintainable web applications by using React’s reusable component structure.
- Set up a new React project efficiently by choosing a build tool like Create React App or the faster Vite.
- Improve your development workflow through React’s supportive community and extensive learning resources.
- Discover how React makes web pages feel quicker by updating only the necessary parts with its Virtual DOM.
Before React gained popularity, web development was thriving but faced significant challenges in creating interactive user interfaces.
It primarily relied on server-side rendering, where every user interaction, such as clicking a link or button, would reload the entire page from the server.jQuery helped ease this by simplifying HTML manipulation and event handling, but as applications grew larger and static assets became more complex , maintaining jQuery-heavy code with its dom specific methods became increasingly difficult. Developers struggled with managing application state and creating reusable react components consistently for any react project .
This growing complexity created a need for a more scalable and organized solution, one that React would eventually fulfill with its build tool, component-based architecture, code splitting, and efficient state management.
Introduction to React
A popular JavaScript library that is successfully taking flight in web development by building user interfaces with reusable React components that you can easily import into the React DOM and act on behavioral changes in the application state.
React approaches declaratively while developing an application with a component-based architecture, often starting from a designated root element. This open-source library uses a combination of JSX elements and JavaScript code to create elements that are reused throughout the application.
It serves the purpose of maintaining complex UI-based applications by using the virtual DOM and optimizing performance through code splitting . The virtual DOM enables applications to update only specific changes rather than reloading the entire page every time a single-page application detects an update, which significantly helps to improve performance .
A large and active community within the React ecosystem continues to drive improvements, accelerating the development experience and encouraging React enthusiasts to contribute. React remains fully open source and widely accessible for developers.
Advantages of React
React provides many strengths worth highlighting, and as you begin working with it, we aim to guide you through the key features that have improved the developer experience.
Faster Rendering
React uses a Virtual DOM, which minimizes direct interaction with the real DOM. It updates only the changed components instead of reloading the entire page, resulting in high-performance rendering.
Faster Debugging
React offers powerful tools like React Developer Tools and babel loader that allow developers to inspect react components hierarchies, state, and props in real time, making debugging efficient and intuitive.
Reusable Components
React’s component-based architecture lets developers create modular UI elements that can be reused across different parts of an application, ensuring consistency, reducing code duplication, and making the source code easier to maintain.
Use of Virtual DOM
React maintains an in-memory Virtual DOM, which allows it to efficiently track necessary files and changes and update the real DOM only when necessary. This leads to smoother performance and better responsiveness.
Easy Learning Curve
React has a straightforward syntax (especially with JSX), and its clear, concise documentation helps developers get up to speed quickly.
Single Page Application (SPA)
React is ideal for building SPAs, where navigation doesn’t reload the entire page. Instead, React dynamically updates content, leading to faster transitions and a more seamless user experience.
Separation of Concerns
React promotes clean code by building apps that separate logic, UI, and state handling into well-structured components, making the app easier to develop, maintain, and scale.
Data Binding
React uses one-way data binding in development mode, meaning data flows in a single direction (from parent to child). This approach simplifies debugging and makes application behavior more predictable.
Community Support
React has a massive global community, backed by Facebook and open-source contributors. This ensures a constant stream of tutorials, third-party libraries, issue resolutions, and updates.
How does React work?
React’s component-based architecture efficiently updates the React DOM. Instead of directly manipulating the DOM at every state change, React compares the changes with the previous version and updates only the specific parts of the DOM. This complex DOM updating is efficiently handled by the webpack development server and React behind the scenes when developers use a declarative approach to define their desired UI state.
Core Concepts
- Component-Based Architecture: Applications are built using reusable, self-contained components that encapsulate both UI elements and behavior.
- Virtual DOM: React maintains a lightweight copy of the DOM in memory, allowing it to perform efficient reconciliation before committing changes to the browser DOM.
- Declarative Paradigm: Instead of imperatively manipulating the DOM, developers declare what the UI should look like based on the current state.
- One-Way Data Flow: Data flows down from parent components to children through props, creating a predictable data flow that makes applications easier to understand and debug.
- JSX: A syntax extension that allows you to write HTML-like code within JavaScript, making component structure more intuitive.
Reconciliation Algorithm
React’s reconciliation algorithm efficiently updates the DOM through Element Type Comparison, Key-Based Identification, and also supports static site generation.
React’s approach to UI rendering creates a development experience that’s both powerful and intuitive, especially in development mode, where code can automatically reload, and production mode, allowing developers to focus on what their applications should look like rather than the complex DOM operations needed to get there, following structure that supports this development process .
Steps to Create a React App from Scratch
Project Structure and Configuration
| Category | Requirements |
| Languages | JavaScript (ES6+), HTML, CSS |
| Environment | Node.js, npm/Yarn, Code Editor (VSCode recommended) |
| Tools | Git, Browser DevTools, Terminal |
| Build Tools | Webpack, Babel (included in Create React App) |
| System | Any OS, 4 GB+ RAM, 1GB free disk space |
| Recommended | TypeScript, React DevTools, Jest |
The absolute essentials are Node.js, npm, and JavaScript knowledge. Everything else enhances your development experience.
Prerequisites Check
- Check Node.js version
| node -v |
- Recommended: v16.0.0 or higher
- Check the npm version
| node -v |
- Recommended: v8.0.0 or higher
Using Create React App (CRA)
- Install Node.js and npm (if not already installed)
- Download from nodejs.org
Create a new React project
| npx crcd my-react-app |
- Navigate to the project directory
| cd my-react-app |
- Start the development server
| npm start |
- Access your app
- Open the browser at https://localhost:3000
Using Vite
Vite supports fast refresh, JSX, Babel, and other common features, facilitated by the webpack dev server out of the box.
- Install Node.js and npm (if not already installed)
- Download from nodejs.org
- Create a new Vite project
| npm create vite@latest my-vite-app — –template cd my-vite-app |
- Navigate to the project directory
| cd my-vite-app |
- Install dependencies
| npm install |
- Start the development server
| npm run dev |
- Access your app
- Open the browser at https://localhost:5173
Vite offers significantly faster startup and hot module replacement compared to CRA and is often complemented by the webpack dev server, making it increasingly popular for new React projects where you typically need to import react .
Creating a New React Project with a Build Tool
| Approach | Command | Features |
| Create React App | npx create-react-app my-app | Zero configuration, includes webpack, Babel, ESLint |
| Vite | npm create vite@latest my-app –template react | Faster development server, optimized build |
| Next.js | npx create-next-app@latest my-app | Server-side rendering, routing, API routes |
| Remix | npx create-remix@latest my-app | Server components, nested routing, error boundaries |
| Gatsby | npm init gatsby my-app | Static site generation, GraphQL data layer |
After running the setup command to create a new app, you can start building your React project.
- Navigate to project: cd my-app
- Install dependencies: npm install
- Start development server: npm start or npm run dev
Webpack configuration files allow you to define how Webpack should process your application files.. The build tool handles webpack configuration files for transpilation, bundling, and optimization. So you can focus on writing React code.
Creating a Simple React App
In this example, we will be creating a new React app project from scratch that includes an app component designed to demonstrate key React concepts like state management, event handling, and localStorage, following a clear folder structure. It’s a very basic but practical example that you can use as a foundation for more advanced React apps.
Step 1: Initialize a React App
If you haven’t already set up a React app using the command line interface, you can do so using create-react-app by executing the following command:
Open your terminal and run:
| npx create-react-app basic-counter-app cd basic-counter-app |
Folder Structure
| basic-counter-app/ ├── node_modules/ # Node.js modules (auto-generated by npm) ├── public/ # Public files (index.html, etc.) │ ├── index.html # Main HTML file │ └── … ├── src/ # Source files (your app code) │ ├── App.js # Main App component │ ├── App.css # Styling for the App │ ├── index.js # React entry point (renders App component) │ └── … ├── .gitignore # Git ignore file ├── package.json # Project metadata and dependencies ├── package-lock.json # Dependency lock file (auto-generated) └── README.md # Project documentation (optional) |
Step 2: Create a Counter Component
Create a simple counter component that allows users to increment and decrement a value through rendering React components.
App.js: The main app file.
| // src/App.js import React, { useState } from “react”; import “./App.css”; function App() { const [count, setCount] = useState(0); const increment = () => setCount(count + 1); const decrement = () => setCount(count – 1); return ( <div className=“App”> <h1>Basic Counter Example</h1> <p>Current Count: {count}</p> <button onClick={increment}>Increment</button> <button onClick={decrement}>Decrement</button> </div> ); } |
export default App;
Step 3: Basic CSS for Styling
Add some basic styles to center the content and style the buttons.
App.css: The CSS file.
| /* src/App.css */ .App { text-align: center; margin-top: 50px; } h1 { font-size: 2rem; color: #333; } button { padding: 10px 20px; margin: 10px; font-size: 1rem; cursor: pointer; background-color: #007bff; color: white; border: none; border-radius: 5px; } button:hover { background-color: #0056b3; } |
This is the standard configuration of package.json that create-react-app generates automatically, customized to match the project name, basic-counter-app.
package.json
| { “name”: “basic-counter-app”, “version”: “0.1.0”, “private”: true, “dependencies”: { “@testing-library/jest-dom”: “^5.17.0”, “@testing-library/react”: “^13.4.0”, “@testing-library/user-event”: “^13.5.0”, “react”: “^18.2.0”, “react-dom”: “^18.2.0”, “react-scripts”: “5.0.1”, “web-vitals”: “^2.1.0” }, “scripts”: { “start”: “react-scripts start”, “build”: “react-scripts build”, “test”: “react-scripts test”, “eject”: “react-scripts eject” }, “eslintConfig”: { “extends”: [ “react-app”, “react-app/jest” ] }, “browserslist”: { “production”: [ “>0.2%”, “not dead”, “not op_mini all” ], “development”: [ “last 1 chrome version”, “last 1 firefox version”, “last 1 safari version” ] } } |
Step 4: Run the App
Once you’ve created the files, run the app from scratch with the following command :
| npm start |
This will launch the React app on your browser, where you’ll see a simple counter with “Increment” and “Decrement” buttons.
Running the App with a Development Server
A development server creates an optimized local environment for React development, making it suitable for both web and native apps. by compiling your code on the fly, serving it to your browser, and providing features like hot module replacement.
Hot Module Replacement (HMR): This feature allows you to see changes to components instantly in your browser without a full page reload, preserving the application’s state.
Create React App (CRA): Start the development server using the command npm start in your project directory, utilizing the webpack development server. This typically launches the webpack-dev-server at https://localhost:3000.
Vite:
Start the development server with the command npm run dev. Vite offers a faster development server, usually accessible at https://localhost:5173.
Build Process: Both CRA and Vite trigger a build process that:
Transforms JSX syntax into standard JavaScript.
Converts modern JavaScript features into browser-compatible code with built-in support.
File Watching: The development server monitors your project files for any changes you make.
WebSocket Connection: It establishes a WebSocket connection with your browser.
Instant Updates: When you save a file, the server pushes the updates to your browser immediately.
Improved Development Efficiency: This continuous feedback loop significantly speeds up development compared to manual page refreshes after each code modification.
Client-Side Rendering
Client-side rendering involves generating HTML and rendering a web page entirely in the client’s web browser using JavaScript. When the browser downloads the JavaScript code and executes it to render the web page, it is called client-side rendering. The process starts with a user visiting a website, the server sends the necessary JavaScript files. The browser runs these scripts and generates the HTML content dynamically. The data from the server (often via APIs) is fetched asynchronously.
Benefits
- Faster User Experience: After the initial load, subsequent page transitions can be very fast since only the data and not the full page needs to be fetched from the server.
- Rich Interactivity: CSR is ideal for single-page applications (SPAs) because it allows for highly interactive and dynamic user interfaces without page reloads.
Server-side rendering
The server generates the HTML content and sends it to the browser. Once the page is loaded, JavaScript takes over, allowing for dynamic features.
Benefits
- Faster Initial Load: Since the server pre-renders the page, the user sees the content faster compared to CSR, as the HTML is ready to be displayed right away.
- SEO Benefits: Search engines can easily index content because it’s rendered server-side, making SSR a good choice for SEO-heavy websites.
- Better for Content-Heavy Pages: SSR is beneficial for pages with lots of static content, like blogs or news sites.
When considering different rendering strategies, if the focus of the project is more towards SEO and faster initial load time, code splitting and SSR should be considered for deployment on a production server, following a structure that optimizes loading times. whereas client-side rendering, unlike other frameworks, is suitable for dynamic and interactive UIs., alongside other tools .
Deploying a React App
Once you’ve built your React application and thoroughly tested its features, the final and crucial step is deployment.
Deploying a React app means making it available for users by hosting it on a server or cloud platform. Understanding the deployment process ensures your app runs smoothly, loads quickly, and is accessible to users across different devices and networks.
In this section, we’ll walk through the essential steps and best practices for deploying a React application efficiently using the following command through some of the most commonly used platforms worldwide.
GitHub Pages:
- Install gh-pages: Run npm install gh-pages –save-dev or yarn add gh-pages –dev in your project.
Add Deploy Script: Open your package.json file and add a deploy script under the scripts section:
JSON
| “scripts”: { // … other scripts “deploy”: “gh-pages -d build” } |
- Build: Run npm run build or yarn build.
- Deploy: Execute npm run deploy or yarn deploy. This creates a gh-pages branch with your build files.
- GitHub Pages Settings: In your GitHub repository, go to “Settings” -> “Pages”. Under “Source”, select the “gh-pages” branch and click “Save”. Your site will be live at https://<your-github-username>.github.io/<your-repository-name>.
Netlify:
This is the simplest method for a quick deployment through the drag-and-drop method.
- Build Locally: Run npm run build or yarn build in your React project to generate the build folder.
- Drag and Drop: Go to your Netlify dashboard, find your site (or create a new one), and simply drag and drop the entire build folder onto the designated area.
- Live Site: Netlify will process the files, and your site will be live at a Netlify-provided URL (which you can customize later).
Conclusion
Congratulations, you have successfully passed the beginner’s check!
You have successfully built your first React application. We’ve learned React’s fundamental concepts while creating a practical counter component. We also explored various setup methods and gained insight into rendering strategies and deployment options.
The component-based architecture that you have experienced so far in the article provides a strong foundation for understanding the development process of building increasingly complex applications. As you continue your React journey, you will discover how these core principles scale elegantly to support more advanced features and larger projects.
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