The Road to React: The React.js in JavaScript Book (2024 Edition)

LAST UPDATE: 5. February 2024

The Road to React: The React.js with Hooks in JavaScript Book (2024 Edition) - is a comprehensive and pragmatic yet concise React with Hooks (+ opt-in TypeScript) book. Purchase of this book includes free online access to the always up-to-date digital book.

What you will learn.

"The Road to React" made its debut in 2016, and since then, I've almost rewritten it annually. This book teaches the core principles of React, guiding you through building a practical application in pure React without complex tooling. The book covers everything from setting up the project to deploying it on a server. Each chapter includes additional recommended reading and exercises. By the end, you'll have the skills to develop your own React applications.

In "The Road to React," I establish a solid foundation before delving into the broader React ecosystem. The book clarifies general concepts, patterns, and best practices for real-world React applications. Ultimately, you'll learn to construct a React application from scratch, incorporating features such as pagination, client-side and server-side searching, and advanced UI interactions like sorting.

Is it up to date?

Programming books are usually outdated soon after their release, but since this book is self- published, I can update it as needed whenever a new version of something related to this book gets released.

I am a beginner. Is this book for me?

Yes. The book starts from zero and takes you through the learning experience step by step. Every chapter builds up on the learnings from the previous chapter. In addition, at the end of every chapter, exercises fortify your lessons learned. If you got stuck in a chapter, you will always find a reference URL to the status quo of the actual code.

Core Concepts

Pragmatic: Master React while building a complete application step by step.
Problems Solving: You need to experience a problem first before solving it.
The Why: Readers like how the book answers the Why, not only the How.


Table of Contents

Fundamentals of React
Hello React
Requirements
Setting up a React Project
Meet the React Component
React JSX
Lists in React
Meet another React Component
React Component Instantiation
ReactDOM
React Component Definition (Advanced)
Handler Function in JSX
React Props
React State
Callback Handlers in JSX
Lifting State in React
React Controlled Components
Props Handling (Advanced)
React Side-Effects
React Custom Hooks (Advanced)
React Fragments
Reusable React Component
React Component Composition
Imperative React
Inline Handler in JSX
React Asynchronous Data
React Conditional Rendering
React Advanced State
React Impossible States
Data Fetching with React
Data Re-Fetching in React
Memoized Handler in React (Advanced)
Explicit Data Fetching with React
Third-Party Libraries in React
Async/Await in React (Advanced)
Forms in React
Styling in React
CSS in React
CSS Modules in React
Styled Components in React
SVGs in React
React Maintenance
Performance in React (Advanced)
TypeScript in React
Unit Testing to Integration Testing
React Project Structure
Real World React (Advanced)
Sorting
Reverse Sort
Remember Last Searches
Paginated Fetch
Deploying a React Application
Build Process
Deploy to Firebase