React is one of the most famous libraries for creating user interfaces while building web applications. It is one of the renowned front-end frameworks for JavaScript. React JS is commonly used by many businesses and has become the go-to library for building dynamic and interactive user interfaces. To harness its power effectively and ensure the creation of robust applications, developers must adhere to React JS Best Practices. The role and responsibility of a React developer is not just to understand the working of a library but also to know the best practices that enable writing clean React code.
In this comprehensive guide, we explore key React JS best practices that improve overall efficiency and contribute to the creation of scalable and maintainable code.
Detailed List of React JS Best Practices
Some of the React JS best practices one must follow to improve the performance of your application include:
Prefer Simple Components
ReactJS is ideal for creating reusable components, but sometimes it is best to keep it simple. In case the nesting parts are too difficult to understand, try to break them into smaller pieces. It means you might require more components than expected, but this way you can keep the code organized and straightforward. Also, well-organized components improve code readability, boost reusability, and ease overall maintenance.
Don’t Use Indexes as Keys Everywhere
Indexes are suitable for structuring the data, but they are not ideal for keys. While using the index as a key, ReactJS will automatically re-render on a change in value, which eventually creates performance issues. Rather than using indexes as keys, use object references or IDs. For instance, if you have an array of objects representing a list of users, then using their references is ideal for tracking them.
Keep Components Small and Focused
If you keep your components small and focused on one responsibility, then understanding their working becomes easy. While managing a large team of developers, reviewing code becomes easy and further reduces the chance of bugs. Rather than adding several responsibilities to a single component, break them into smaller parts as part of the React JS best practices.
Organise Files Related to the Same Component At One Place
While deciding the folder structure for your React app, opt for a component-centric one. It means storing all the files related to one component in one place. For instance, if you are creating a Navbar component, create a folder with the name Navbar, which consists of a component file, the style sheet, and other JavaSript. Creating a single folder consisting of the same component’s files makes reusing and sharing the same easy.
Keep The Code DRY
“Don’t Repeat Yourself” or DRY is the principle important when it’s about ReactJS development, as writing similar components is very easy. But don’t do it often. Instead try utilizing the same code in multiple places, just explain a function once and call it from different components instead. For instance, a React JS development company can create a component for your navigation menu rather than repeating the same code in every component that requires a menu.
Use Props
Using props is one of the React JS best practices; it means passing data down through your component hierarchy without worrying about making alterations at each level of nesting. For example, if you have a manager component where some data needs to be passed down to the team, but the team has additional information, you can pass both sets of data as props to the team members. With this, you can easily change your application’s behaviour without making changes in every component in the hierarchy.
Don’t Mix Data & Logic In Components
Draw a separation line between the presentation and business logic from your React components. Many times, mixing data and logic inside a component looks attractive as we want to make data available when required by other parts of our app. The best React JS Best Practices to avoid this is to create a new component that can manage the data and display it on the page. This is what is being known as an intelligent component.
Use Pure Functions To Lower the Side Effects
Pure functions are the ones with zero side effects, and they don’t mutate data outside the function. Also, pure functions don’t depend upon external input. Instead, they produce new values according to the inputs obtained.
Final Thoughts
Mastering React.JS goes far beyond understanding its syntax; it involves deploying the best practices that contribute to the creation of efficient, maintainable, and scalable applications. By adhering to React JS Best Practices outlined in this blog, React developers can navigate the complexities of React.JS development with confidence, delivering high-quality and performant user interfaces.
With the evolving React.JS ecosystem, staying informed about and integrating best practices is essential for harnessing the full potential of this powerful library.
Being the top software development company, Kodehash Technologies is highly experienced in dealing with the newest front-end technology advancements. To know more about your React project, connect with the experts at Kodehash.