React Best Practices for 2024

2024-02-10 291 words 2 minutes

Contents

Building Better React Applications

React has become the go-to library for building user interfaces, but writing good React code requires following certain best practices. Here are the essential guidelines for 2024.

1. Component Structure

Keep your components clean and focused:

        
        
        
    
// Good: Single responsibility
const UserProfile = ({ user }) => {
  return (
    <div className="user-profile">
      <UserAvatar src={user.avatar} />
      <UserInfo name={user.name} email={user.email} />
    </div>
  );
};

// Avoid: Too many responsibilities
const UserDashboard = ({ user, posts, notifications }) => {
  // Too much logic in one component
};

2. State Management

Choose the right state management approach:

Local State: Use useState for component-specific data
Context: For data that needs to be shared across components
External Libraries: Redux, Zustand for complex state logic

3. Performance Optimization

Optimize your React applications:

Use React.memo for expensive components
Implement useMemo and useCallback wisely
Code splitting with React.lazy

4. Custom Hooks

Extract reusable logic into custom hooks:

        
        
        
    
const useLocalStorage = (key, initialValue) => {
  const [storedValue, setStoredValue] = useState(() => {
    try {
      const item = window.localStorage.getItem(key);
      return item ? JSON.parse(item) : initialValue;
    } catch (error) {
      return initialValue;
    }
  });

  const setValue = (value) => {
    try {
      setStoredValue(value);
      window.localStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(error);
    }
  };

  return [storedValue, setValue];
};

5. Error Boundaries

Implement proper error handling:

        
        
        
    
class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { hasError: false };
  }

  static getDerivedStateFromError(error) {
    return { hasError: true };
  }

  componentDidCatch(error, errorInfo) {
    console.error('Error caught by boundary:', error, errorInfo);
  }

  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      return <h1>Something went wrong.</h1>;
    }

    return this.props.children;
  }
}

Conclusion

Following these best practices will help you build more maintainable, performant, and scalable React applications. Remember to keep learning and adapting as the React ecosystem evolves!