Anyone who’s ever coded anything beyond “Hello, World!” in React knows what a chore prop drilling can become. Prop drilling refers to the practice of passing props down from a parent component to a nested subchild component, requiring travel through one or many intermediary components that don’t utilize the props…

While websites traditionally relied on server-side rendering to display code in a browser, the emergence of JavaScript libraries such as React, Angular and Vue have popularized a newer method known as client-side rendering. There are pros and cons to each approach, and it’s important for frontend developers to understand the…

I recently completed a mock technical interview with Skilled Inc. to test my React knowledge. Though I scored a 4/5 and earned generally favorable remarks, my interviewer suggested a deeper dive into how JSX and the Virtual DOM actually work. Not just what they are, but how they are. …

Have you ever designed an app that looks beautiful on your desktop monitor, but explodes into a shattered mess the second you open it on mobile or a laptop? Unless you’re Pablo Picasso, that’s probably not what you intended. Responsive design is the practice of styling content to automatically adapt…

Controlled form inputs are a core React concept that can be confusing for programmers new to the framework. Along with quirks like props and hooks, it’s one of the few nuances a web developer needs to understand before bringing even a basic React app to life. Why do we need…

Hooks were introduced a little more than two years ago, when Facebook released React 16.8 in February 2019. Shifting over to hooks can be a little confusing, especially for developers who’ve gotten used to class components. Once you’ve made the adjustment, however, there’s no looking back. Here’s what an incredibly…

Don’t Repeat Yourself. DRY. It’s one of the most common mantras repeated to, and by, newbie programmers. Refactoring code to minimize repetition has many tangible benefits. It makes code easier to read, understand and revise. It reduces load times and creates faster apps. Most importantly for students, it solidifies conceptual…

Every mountaineer, in graduating from a novice to an adept, must master the art of routefinding. Not every path leads to the summit. Often many paths will, though each comes with its own unique challenges and experiences. …