Ecommerce Project using React - 12-hour Course

Introduction to React

• React.js: JavaScript library created by Facebook
• Used for building user interfaces, especially single-page applications (SPAs)
• Benefits: fast updates, efficient rendering with virtual DOM

Setting Up the Project

• HTML: Traditional HTML structure still applies
• npm: npm init and npm install required packages
• Create React App: Tool provided by Facebook to set up a new React project with a single command
  • npx create-react-app my-app

React Component Basics

• JSX: JavaScript syntax extension, allows mixing HTML with JavaScript
• Functional Components: Basic building blocks of a React application
  • Example: function Hello() { return <h1>Hello, World!</h1>; }
  • Props: Properties passed to components for dynamic rendering
• State Management: Allows React components to handle and render dynamic data

Advanced React Components and Concepts

• Component Lifecycle: Understanding lifecycle methods for class components
  • componentDidMount, componentDidUpdate, componentWillUnmount
• Conditional Rendering: Showing components based on certain conditions
• Lists and Keys: Rendering lists efficiently with unique keys

Styling React Components

• Inline Styles: Using JavaScript objects to style components
• CSS Modules: Scoped CSS to avoid conflicts
• Styled Components: Using styled-components library for component-level styling

React Developer Tools

• React DevTools: Chrome extension to inspect React component hierarchies

State Management with Hooks

• useState: Manage state in functional components
  • [state, setState] = useState(initialState)
• useEffect: Perform side effects in functional components
  • Cleanup function for effects, mimicking lifecycle methods

Handling Forms in React

• Controlled Components: Forms where React controls the input values
  • Using onChange handlers and setState to capture user input
• Form Validation: Basic validation and error handling
• Submitting Forms: Preventing default browser behavior and handling form submission via React

Routing with React Router

• react-router-dom: Library to handle routing in React applications
• BrowserRouter: Wraps the app for routing support
• Routes and Route Components: Define different routes and corresponding components
  • Example: <Route path='/about' component={About} />
• Link Component: Navigates without reloading the page

Fetching Data from APIs

• Fetching Data: Using fetch or Axios to get data from external APIs
• State Management: Storing retrieved data in component state

Building the Ecommerce Project

• Project Setup: Creating a new React project, installing necessary dependencies
• Components: Structuring the project into reusable components
  • Header, Footer, Product List, Product Detail, Cart, etc.
• Styling: Using CSS frameworks and custom styles
• API Integration: Fetching product data, handling user authentication, and cart management
• State Management: Managing state for products, user credentials, cart contents, etc.

Deployment

• Build Process: npm run build to create an optimized production build
• Deployment: Deploying to platforms like Netlify, Vercel, or traditional web servers

Debugging and Testing

• React Testing Library: Writing tests for React components
• Snapshots: Capturing the rendered output for regression testing
• Jest: Framework for running tests and reporting results