Ultimate React Course Summary

Jun 21, 2024

Ultimate React Course Summary

Introduction

  • Instructor: Marsha Madani
  • Experience: Over 20 years of software engineering
  • Platform: codebitmarsh.com

Course Goals

  • Learn React comprehensively from basics to advanced concepts.
  • Build and deploy a production-grade video game discovery app.
  • Cover practical aspects such as dark/light modes, searching, filtering, sorting, and dynamic page updates.

Prerequisites

  • HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Good understanding required.
  • TypeScript: Will be covered from scratch; no prior experience needed.
  • Node.js: Version 16 or higher required.
  • Editor: VS Code recommended, with Prettier extension for code formatting.

Setting Up the Environment

Installing Node.js

  • Ensure Node.js v16+ is installed. Command: node -v

Using the VS Code Editor

  • Install the Prettier extension for automatic code formatting.

Creating a New React Application

Using Vite

  • Command: npm create vite@4.1.0
  • Select React with TypeScript.

Project Structure

  • node_modules: Third-party libraries
  • public: Static assets
  • src: Source code
  • index.html: Entry point
  • package.json: Project metadata and dependencies

Core React Concepts

What is React?

  • A JavaScript library for building dynamic and interactive user interfaces.
  • Created by Facebook in 2011.
  • Utilizes the concept of a virtual DOM for efficient updates.

Components

  • Building blocks for UIs; they encapsulate HTML and behavior in reusable pieces.
  • Example: Navigation bars, side panels, and content grids.
  • Using JSX (JavaScript XML) for defining components.

Virtual DOM

  • An in-memory representation of the actual DOM for efficient updates.
  • React updates the virtual DOM and syncs it with the real DOM using a library, react-dom.

Developing with React

Functional Components

  • Declared using functions, preferred over class-based components.
  • Use JSX to render HTML elements.

Props and State

  • Props: Inputs to components, passed as attributes in JSX.
  • State: Internal data managed by a component, can change over time.
  • Changes in props or state trigger re-renders of the component tree.

Handling Events

  • Use event handlers to handle user interactions like clicks.
  • Example: Using onClick to handle button clicks.

Conditional Rendering

  • Render different UI based on conditions using ternary operators or logical AND.

Advanced Topics (to be covered in detail later)

  • Routing: Navigating between different pages in a React app.
  • State Management: Managing complex state using libraries like Redux.
  • React Query: Efficiently fetching and managing server data.
  • Authentication: Securing parts of the app and managing user sessions.
  • Error Handling: Gracefully handling runtime errors.
  • Performance Optimization: Ensuring the React app runs efficiently.

Useful Tools & Extensions

  • React Dev Tools: Browser extension for inspecting React component hierarchies and state.
  • VS Code Extensions: Prettier for code formatting, ES7+ React/Redux snippets for code shortcuts.

Exercises

Creating Components with Bootstrap

  • Example: ListGroup component, Button component with Bootstrap styling.
  • Using Bootstrap classes and ensuring dynamic rendering through props.

Handling State and Props

  • Making components reusable through props
  • Managing component state using the useState hook.

Event Handling and Conditional Rendering

  • Handling events with onClick and other handlers.
  • Using conditional rendering to show/hide components dynamically.

Conclusion

  • Full course available with more in-depth content, exercises, and practical projects.
  • Course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.