Since the end of 2019, highly interactive websites have become more and more popular. As result, for frontend developers, fluency in React is a must. As Melbourne web developers, we conclude that while working on React-powered creations, you should be careful to do things in tune with the React best practices. These best practices will help to keep your code better organized. In this article we will show you the fundamental of React best practices.
- Keep components small and function-specificOne of the advantages coding with React is it’s possible to have huge components that execute a number of tasks. Just because it is possible, it doesn’t mean you should do it. We believe that keeping them small is the better way to design components. Each component corresponds to one specific function, either render a specific bit of your page or modify a particular behavior. There are many advantages to this:
- Function-specific components can be standalone, which makes testing and maintenance easier.
- Small components are reusable across multiple projects.
- Easier to implement performance optimizations.
- Smaller components are easier to update.
- Bigger components have to perform harder and may be difficult to maintain.
Even though it is recommended to create function specific components, sometimes you don’t have a choice but to create multiple function-specific components. Just make sure to keep balance between them.
2. Reusability is essential, so keep creation of new components as minimum as possible By sticking to the rule of one component = one function, you can improve the reusability of components. Reusing components across your project or across any number of projects, not only allow you to achieve consistency and save a lot of time, but you’ll also be contributing to the community.
3. Put CSS in JavaScript
We agree that It is a common practice to store all the CSS styles in a single SCSS file at the beginning of a project. People do this all the time because the use of a global prefix prevents any potential name collisions. However, as your project scales up, this practice may not be very practical. You need to migrate your CSS styles and write them in JS. There are many libraries that enable you to write CSS in JS, such as EmotionJS and Glamorous. So, we suggest you to write your CSS in JS as early as possible.
4. Name the component after the function
We think that It’s a good idea to name a component after the function that it executes so that it’s easily recognizable. Avoid naming component based on the need for the code. You will end up confusing yourself in the future.
5. Separate stateful aspects from rendering
Components in React can be categorized into stateful or stateless components. Stateful components store information about the component’s state and provide the necessary context. In other hand, stateless components have no memory and cannot give context to other parts of the UI. So, they only receive inputs from parent component and return JSX elements.
It is best to keep your stateful data-loading logic independent from your rendering stateless logic. This practice will reduce the complexity of the components because on one side stateful component will load data and in other side stateless component show the data.
6. Follow linting rules
Linting is a process wherein we run a program to analyze our codes and find potential errors.
Linting is used mostly for language-related issues, but it also able to fix other issues, including code style. You should make sure your code is relatively error and bug free, by using a linter.
Finally, we hope this list of best practices is going to help you on your React projects. So, you will walk on the right track and avoid any potential problems in the future.