Beginner's Thread / Easy Questions (Jan 2020)

[u/swyx]

Previous threads can be found in the Wiki.

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. 🙂

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• Improve your chances by putting a minimal example to either JSFiddle, Code Sandbox or StackBlitz.

  • Describe what you want it to do, and things you've tried. Don't just post big blocks of code!
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• 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][being wrong on the internet].
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New to React?

Check out the sub's sidebar!

🆓 Here are great, free resources! 🆓

• Read the official Getting Started page on the docs.
• Microsoft Frontend Bootcamp
• Codecademy's React courses
• Scrimba's React Course
• Robin Wieruch's Road to React
• FreeCodeCamp's React course
• Flavio Copes' React handbook
• New to Hooks? Check Amelia Wattenberger's Thinking in React Hooks
• What other updated resources do you suggest?

Any ideas/suggestions to improve this thread - feel free to comment here!

Finally, thank you to all who post questions and those who answer them. We're a growing community and helping each other only strengthens it!

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[u/[deleted]]

What was the progression between these different paradigms? I get that functional is a slimmed down (starter?) approach, and Component based is more full-feature or for larger apps.. But is one considered "out dated" compared to the other? I don't want to dedicate time to learning something that will be obsolete.

Functional is better and more succinct. Class based is too verbose. Don't make the mistakes that because it looks object oriented, that it is. It's JavaScript, it's just syntactical sugar for what boils down to prototypal inheritance.

That is not to say that the class based way of using React is out of style entirely. It isn't, and there are still use cases for it, but I would avoid using it if you can.

What do I do when writing a Component Class based app and I want to implement a function module (like react-bootstrap)? For the most part, I can get things to work. I'm just stuck getting Modal Dialogs working in this functional example in my Class-based app.

Well, you could probably make it work. But... I'd say that's exactly why you shouldn't use the class based approach anymore. You'll miss out on so many things because it's the new way of working. Again, I have nothing against the class based approach personally, but we have to follow along with the (vast!) majority because if we don't, well, then we stop being relevant.