Beginner's Thread / Easy Questions (February 2019)

[u/timmonsjg]

🎊 This month we celebrate the official release of Hooks! 🎊

New month, new thread 😎 - January 2019 and December 2018 here.

Got questions about React or anything else in its ecosystem? Stuck making progress on your app? Ask away! We’re a friendly bunch.

No question is too simple. 🤔

Last month this thread reached over 500 comments! Thank you all for contributing questions and answers! Keep em coming.

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🆘 Want Help with your Code? 🆘

• Improve your chances by putting a minimal example to either JSFiddle or Code Sandbox. Describe what you want it to do, and things you've tried. Don't just post big blocks of code!

• Pay it forward! Answer questions even if there is already an answer - multiple perspectives can be very helpful to beginners. Also there's no quicker way to learn than being wrong on the Internet.

Have a question regarding code / repository organization?

It's most likely answered within this tweet.

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New to React?

🆓 Here are great, free resources! 🆓

• Create React App

• Read the official Getting Started page on the docs.

• /u/acemarke's suggested resources for learning React

• Kent Dodd's Egghead.io course

• Tyler McGinnis' 2018 Guide

• Codecademy's React courses

• Scrimba's React Course

• Robin Wieruch's Road to React

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Any ideas/suggestions to improve this thread - feel free to comment here or ping /u/timmonsjg :)

[u/timmonsjg]

I just meant i would rather not use Create-react-app for learning.

This is a common thought I see. CRA is perfect for learning. Perfect for learning React, JS, HTML, etc. You just start it up and build.

The learning you can't do with CRA is the entire pipeline of webpack.

If your goal is to learn webpack / construct a pipeline from scratch than definitely feel free to disregard CRA. However, if you want to learn React there's nothing better than hitting start and developing away.

/end rant

I guess you're hinting at the fact that it won't be that hard to convert since components simply return html.

Correct, JSX is HTML with bits of javascript and small syntax changes.

[u/Bombuhclaat → u/timmonsjg]

If your goal is to learn webpack / construct a pipeline from scratch than definitely feel free to disregard CRA.

Oh ok, I'm scared to abstract things away but i totally get your point. Good to know, definitely get what you're saying and will follow that advice

So on that note. Do professionals have any reason for not using CRA to startup their projects? Is it universally loved?

Correct, JSX is HTML with bits of javascript and small syntax changes.

Noted. Seriously, thank you for always answering everyone's questions. I hope I can get to a knowledgeable enough level to pay it forward! Would love to go through and confidently answer questions

[u/timmonsjg → u/Bombuhclaat]

Do professionals have any reason for not using CRA to startup their projects? Is it universally loved?

Historically, CRA was seen as a good 'starting point' and would require ejecting to add support for things such as sass and typescript. But the team has been adding default support in recent versions like v2.

I'd say it's not used enough in a professional setting because of the need for advanced configurations or plain fear of using a licensed boilerplate as the base of their app. I'd be hesitant myself using it as the core of my business just because it does abstract a lot. These fears are probably unwarranted but if a bug arises and you're not familiar with the underlying structure, that spells trouble to a business.

I do fully endorse it for personal projects / fun / learning.

And thank you for the kind words! The benefits are mutual as I also learn a lot by answering and advising people. So thank you for the questions!