React for Real: Front-End Code, Untangled

by Ludovico Fischer

When traditional web development techniques don't cut it, try React. Use React to create highly interactive web pages faster and with fewer errors. With a little JavaScript experience under your belt, you'll be up and running in no time creating dynamic web applications. Craft isolated components that make your apps easier to develop and maintain, with plenty of guidance on best practices. Set up automated tests, and make pages render fast for your users. See how to use your React skills to integrate with other front-end technologies when needed.
Dive right into React by defining components, the basic building blocks of a React application. Integrate modern JavaScript language features such as classes and arrow functions in your app. Analyze the relationships in your data to isolate state, and sync the data model with what your users see.
Once you're familiar with how a React application works, organize your code base with modules. Configure a production build and deliver your app as efficiently as possible with Webpack. Master testing with React-specific advice and tools to catch the most bugs with the least amount of code. Learn the basics of the Redux library. Define actions and manage an immutable central state with reducers, then connect Redux to your React components to build even larger and more complex interfaces. Package your React code as a standalone widget so anyone can use it in their own applications. Reuse existing JavaScript code in your React components, and build a new React view on top of an existing data model shared with a legacy application.
When you finish this book, you'll be well on your way to solving your front-end problems with React.
What You
Node.js 6.x or later, and a modern web browser.

119 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2017

Reviews

[Alex French · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Not *bad*, but not really good either.

An okay introduction, but I'm not sure it added much beyond React's own basic tutorials and a next step into Redux tutorials.

I appreciate the final chapter touching on packaging React components for independent use, integrating with existing UI not made for React, and integrating with other frameworks like Backbone, but it was very, very quick.

I also appreciate raw state management before introducing Redux... but overall the book maybe brings in new tools a little too fast and furious. Maybe very helpful for working through every fully functional example, but not for actually understanding what you're doing, why, and what all the alternatives are.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit dated at the time of this writing (2022), React for Real still works as a light introduction to React. I was able to work through most of the examples with fairly minimal debugging , except for the 'initialize.js' example in Chapter 6. I felt the author did a good job of creating simple examples that highlighted key areas not only in React, but NPM and webpack as well. The last 3 or so chapters do ramp up the amount of information thrown at the reader quite quickly, but overall I think this book is a decent first step for anyone looking to learn React.

[Chris Karr · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a practicing developer who has coasted on jQuery for a decade, this book did an excellent job outlining exactly what I needed to learn about the theory and practice of React in a surprisingly short amount of time and space. Was pretty consistent about anticipating my "hey, what about?" questions and answering them to my satisfaction on the next page.

Well done!