React is a JavaScript library used in web development to build interactive elements on website User Interfaces (UI) based on UI components. It is used in both frontend and backend, this means it can be used to develop full-stack web applications. React is an open-source technology that combines JavaScript and HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to display small pieces of the large UI.
How to use React developer tools
React developer tools are essential tools used to develop React apps, debug any React app issues, and React app troubleshooting. Stated below are three most common developer tools used for various purposes.
React DevTools
React DevTools is a browser plugin that allows developers to investigate the React component hierarchy in a React application. React DevTools is available in Chrome, Friefox, and Edge.
React DevTools usage
React.js presence detection in the application:
Open the browser and navigate to the “React DevTools” extension.
If the “React DevTools” extension is colorful, then it means the application is available in React.js format.
If the “React DevTools” extension is colorless, then the application was not created with React.js.
React Components:
Used to inspect and edit React components.
A shortcut to launch React DevTools in Chrome: press Ctrl + Shift + l.
Right click on the application top bar, the drop down menu will appear with the following options: Components and Profiler.
Component option will display the React component tree to be inspected, edited and analyze the props, state and structure.
Profiler option is used to track the application performance.
Reactide
Reactide is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used to create web applications. It is a cross-platform desktop framework that renders React projects when a single React JSX file is opened in the browser.
Reactide uses:
Create state flow visualizations.
Provide details on changes, props, and state.
Customized browser stimulator, integrated Node server to eliminate reliance on server configuration and built-in software.
Eliminates the need to switch between the IDE and browser to keep track of project changes.
Features:Hot module reloading
Component visualization
Streamlined configurations
Extensive developer environment in a single click
Redux
Redux is a React DevTool that is a state management libraries tool which provides developers with an option of using the default implementation based on Error.stack() or creating customized implementations.
Features:
Enables the examination of each state and action payload.
Enables a developer to “cancel” activities and travel back in time.
Each “staged” action will be re-evaluated if the reducer code is changed.
If the reducer outputs an error result, then the developer can figure out what went wrong and when the error occurred.
Developers can save debug sessions across page reloads with the persistState() store enhancer.
What does a React developer do?
A React developer is also a frontend developer that works with React to build UIs, focus on frontend development, and use JavaScript and CSS to design UI elements and layout of the page from fonts to color choices.
React developer responsibilities:
Monitor and improve frontend performance.
Identify web-based user interactions.
Document application changes and develop updates.
Review application requirements and interface designs.
Troubleshoot interface software and debug application codes.
Ideation on UI design of the web application.
Follow react.js workflow to write application interface codes using JavaScript.
Develop and implement frontend architecture to support UI concepts.
Use React components to develop and implement highly responsive UI components.
Types of React developers
UI React developer:
Focuses on the mechanics, operability, and dependability of the interface.
In-depth understanding of functionality and providing the right user experience.
React developer in frontend:
Responsible for web app design and implementing UI components in the web application.
In frontend development the focus is on developing Jamstack-based web and mobile apps and should be able to predict user interactions and put insights into practice.
Create visual user interfaces, should apply UX principles and have a sense of aesthetics. Lastly, ensure the compatibility of the interface with various devices and screen sizes.
Why do React developers love Node?
Node is a packaged compilation of Google Chrome V8 JavaScript engine. It consists of the libuv platform abstraction layer and the primary core library is written in JavaScript. Node written in C, C++, and JavaScript is also known as Node.js. Node.js is a full-stack runtime, which means it consists of frameworks that can be used in both frontend and backend development.
Benefits of Node
Easy: Node is easy to learn or use for a beginner in web development and it consists of a huge variety of tutorials.
Scalable: Offers huge scalability for applications, because node.js can handle a number of simultaneous connections with high output scale.
Packages: Node provides a variety of open-source, node.Js packages to simplify projects as there are more than one million packages in the npm ecosystem.
Strong backend: Node is written in C and C++ and this makes it operate on a high speed scale and add features like networking support.
Multi-Platform: Node supports cross-platform which enables the creation of Saas websites, mobile apps and desktop apps.
Speed: Non-blocking thread execution makes Node faster and efficient.
Maintainable: Node is easier to manage in both frontend and backend using Node.js.
Node.js applications
Stated below are popular use cases for Node.
Real time chats
Node.js can be used to process real-time communication, as it consists of a single threaded asynchronous feature. Node has the ability to scale, then it can be used to build chatbots and additional chat features like a multi-person chat and push notification.
Internet of Things “IoT”
Node.js has the ability to handle simultaneous requests rapidly, therefore it is suitable to be used in “IoT” applications as they frequently send small blocks of data that can pile up into large numbers of requests.
Data Streaming
Node.js is lightweight, fast, and provides native streaming APIs which allows users to send requests to each other. This results in data being streamed directly to its final destination.
Companies like Netflix use Node.Js
Complex Single-Page Applications (SPAs)
SPAs load the whole application in a single page, this means a couple of requests are made in the background for specific components and node.Js event loop will process requests in a non-blocking manner
Rest API-based Applications
Since JavaScript is used in both frontend and backend then Node.js is used for communication between frontend client-side and backend server-side through Rest APIs. Lastly, Node.js provides packages like Express.Js and koa to build web applications.
Frontend apps supported by Node.js
Code Processors
Code processors are used to display text in the browser, HTML and CSS are code processors supported by Node.js. They are both used to minimize files in size by removing unnecessary characters for faster file rendering and transmission. The pre-processors help the browser in rendering the files and Node.js allows the processor to be coded in JavaScript as this enables flexibility and customization.
Module Bundlers
Module bundlers are programs that intake various code files and combine (bundle) the files into one single file. Module bundlers are included with web frameworks like React.
Webpack is a static module bundler built on top of Node.js.
Styling
CSS is used to style webpage packages such as styled-components.
Styled-components is a library written for React.js and it makes it easier to integrate the styling with JavaScript, this is more useful in styling UI code.
Backend apps supported by Node js
Network and API calls
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests are usually controlled by the user. The user can specify the headers, set up proxies, and receive responses in formats suitable for the application database integration.
Database Integration
Database integration enables users to handle database operations in JavaScript.
Node.js consists of libraries and interfaces that allow smooth integration with databases.
JavaScript is used to perform Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations at operating system-level control over an application.
System-level programming considers the computational resources of a program that can be used and controlled using Node.js and JavaScript provide features for concurrency and OS programming.
Tools used in Node.js
Express : Also known as Express.Js, it is a web development framework for Node.js and the de facto standard for the majority of Node.js applications.
MongoDB : Official driver to MongoDB and it provides API for MongoDB object databases in Node.js.
Moment : A JavaScript date library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and date formatting Commander.js.
Async : A utility that provides straightforward, powerful functions for working with asynchronous JavaScript.
Passport : A simple, unobtrusive authentication for Node.js responsible for authenticating requests.
Mocha : A clean, flexible JavaScript test framework for Node.js and the browser.
Can we use React Native for web development?
React Native is a framework for building native apps using JavaScript, it can also be used to create cross-platform native apps that will run in both iOS and Android. React Native uses JavaScript to access the app’s API and also describes the UI using React components.
React Native benefits
Core reusability and speedy development:
React Native makes it easier to use the same code-base for different platforms.
Enables faster app development, less maintenance as one code-base can be reused and has an easy onboarding process for new developers to work on a React Native project.
Performance:
React Native allows usage native written code to prevent the application from lagging.
Cost efficient:
As React Native allows reuse of code, this reduces the number of developers required to work on a React Native application.
React Native essential skills
Understand the basics of Swift, Objective-C, and KotlinJava.
Knowledge on the command of native iOS and Android development.
Knowledge on TypeScript, unit testing, type checking, prop types, and code debugging.
In-depth understanding of the full mobile app development from prototyping to app testing.
In-depth knowledge and understanding in CSS, HTML, JavaScript, functional programming, and frontend language.
Knowledge on JavaScript components and skill on how to create an entire application logic, service, and understanding their operational flow.
Understanding and knowledge of the basic React fundamentals such as virtual DOM, component lifecycle, and state.
Knowledge on REST APIs, documenting request models, offline storage, and third-party libraries.
How to be a good React developer
A good React developer has knowledge, soft skills, and technical skills in both frontend and backend development. This includes coding languages, libraries and packages.
General programming knowledge
Algorithms
Data structures
State management patterns and solutions
Design patterns. Be able to test solutions for common problems in software development.
Soft skills
Have good time management, excellent and clear communication with a client.
Critical thinking, creative ideation, troubleshooting and good problem-solving skills.
The ability to translate business requests into technical requirements.
Be able to work well on a team project, accept critical feedback, and offer suggestions based on the feedback.
Be open-minded to learning new tools or programming languages.
Have good coding techniques such as proper naming, testable functions, and readable code.
Technical skills
Coding languages
HTML and CSS:
Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS concepts and how to apply the concepts in React app-based applications.
HTML and CSS are both UI components used to style and structure a React web-app project.
JavaScript:
Framework used for building UI components using HTML & CSS.
Basic knowledge in JavaScript makes it easier to understand JSX.
Basic and practical knowledge on variables, scoping, array, objects, functions, and arrow functions and DOM manipulation.
Web packages
React testing library:
It is a testing tool used to test a DOM tree rendered by React on a browser.
It enables a developer to test React components without depending on implementation details.
Framer motion:
A production-ready library for React.
It allows a developer to demonstrate complex user interaction using HTML.
Styled-components:
A library used to style React applications.
It is used to build custom components using CSS in JavaScript.
React tools
Redux:
Redux is a state management library.
Redux is used to manage and keep up with any API changes from any library to make sure that React components operate as expected.
Basel:
A JavaScript based compiler that transforms HTML text format from JavaScript files into standard JavaScript objects.
JSX:
JavaScript XML (JSX) is an abstraction on top of the - React.create.Element() API.
JSX describes React’s object tree using a syntax similar to HTML template.
Git:
Git is an open-source distributed version control designed to handle projects with speed and efficiency.
Git is used to track changes with add, commit, push, and pull.
Node and node package manager (npm):
Node is a platform used to host and run web servers for React applications.
npm is a cloud storage for packages and dependencies, in React it is used as an online directory that contains a variety of already registered open- source packages.
