React is a popular JS library for developing user interfaces. Its flexibility and ease of use have made it a go-to choice for many developers, leading to a proliferation of React-based applications. However, as with any powerful tool, it’s important to use React in the best way possible to ensure that your applications are performant, maintainable, and scalable. In this article, we will explore some best practices for working with React that will help you build high-quality and reliable applications.
From structuring your code to managing state and handling events, we will cover a wide range of topics to help you get the most out of React. There are eight different practices explained here. You can use them in your upcoming project. Let’s learn more about them.
React Best Practices for Better ReactJS Development
There are multiple React Best practices that developers should implement. Here are eight best practices that we will discuss in this article:
- File Organization
- Give a Specific Name to a Component
- Choose styled-component rather than CSS-in-JS libraries
- Use TypeScript
- Write Testable Code & Get It Covered
- Use tools like Bit
- Reduce The Use of Stateful Components
File Organization
File organization is an important aspect of building maintainable and scalable React applications. A well-organized file structure can make it easy to understand the structure and purpose of your codebase and can make it easier to navigate and find specific pieces of code when one needs to make updates or debug issues.
There are a few different ways to organize your files in a React application, but a common approach is to use a feature-based file structure. This involves organizing your files by feature or module, rather than by file type. For example, you might have a folder called “Authentication” that contains all of the files related to authentication, such as the login and logout components, the authentication service, and any related actions and reducers.
Another approach is to use a domain-driven design (DDD) based file structure, that is domain-related entities like Users, Products, Orders, etc are put inside their respective folders.
Within each feature folder, you can further divide your files into smaller subfolders, such as “components”, “services”, “redux” etc. This makes it easy to find and understand the different parts of the feature.
Ultimately, the key is to find a file structure that makes sense for your application and that is easy to understand and maintain. It’s also important to keep in mind that your file structure will likely evolve over time as your application grows and changes, so be prepared to make adjustments as needed.
Give a Specific Name to a Component
One common naming convention for React components is to use a capitalized CamelCase notation, for example, MyComponent. This naming convention makes it clear that the component is a React component and is consistent with the naming of other objects in JavaScript.
Another way is to use pascalCase notation like MyComponent.
If the component represents some UI element, it can be named as a combination of an element like Button or Label and its purpose, for example, AddButton, SaveLabel
Another best practice is to prefix component names with the folder or feature they belong to. For example, if you have a folder called Authentication that contains all of the components related to authentication, you might name your component AuthenticationForm to make it clear that it’s part of the authentication feature.
Choose Styled-component Rather than CSS-in-JS Libraries
One of the key benefits of using “styled-components” is that it allows you to write CSS styles that are scoped to a specific component, which can help to prevent naming conflicts and improve the maintainability of your code.
When you use styled components, you define your styles as a JavaScript template literal, and the styles are then applied to the component that is being rendered. The styles are scoped to the component and do not affect any other elements on the page. This way you can use the same class name as you would use in CSS, but it will only affect the component you intended to.
Another benefit of styled components is that it allows you to use JavaScript expressions to dynamically generate CSS styles. This can be useful for creating responsive designs or for applying styles based on the state of the component.
Use TypeScript
Using TypeScript with React can bring many benefits to your project, including improved code quality and a reduction in runtime errors.
TypeScript is a strongly-typed superset of JavaScript, which means that it provides additional features such as type annotations, interfaces, and classes that can help you catch errors early before your code runs. This can help to improve the reliability and maintainability of your code, making it easier to catch and fix bugs, and less prone to introducing new issues.
In React applications, TypeScript can be particularly useful for defining the types of props and states that a component expects to receive, this way your code becomes more predictable and safer, avoiding unexpected type mismatches. This can make it easier to understand and work with your code, especially when working with a large codebase or with multiple developers.
Write Testable Code & Get it Covered
Writing testable code is an important best practice for building high-quality, reliable React applications. By writing testable code, you can ensure that your code is working as expected and that changes or updates to your application don’t break existing functionality.
Having good test coverage can help you to catch and fix bugs early, prevent regressions, and ensure that your application continues to work as expected. It is also a good way to improve the confidence and trust that developers or stakeholders have on the application.
Use Tools Like Bit
Bit is a tool for building, sharing, and discovering reusable components across different projects and teams. It allows developers to isolate and version individual components from a codebase, making it easy to manage and share them across different applications. This way, teams can leverage existing components, rather than starting from scratch, and ensure that all the components are following best practices, are well-documented, and are easy to use.
When you use Bit, you can easily share components between different projects, both within your organization and with the broader open-source community. This can help to increase collaboration and reuse across teams and projects and can lead to faster development and more consistent user interfaces.
Reduce the Use of Stateful Components
A best practice is to reduce the use of stateful components and favor stateless components instead. Stateless components, also known as functional components, are components that do not maintain their own internal state, and instead rely on props passed down from their parent component.
One of the benefits of using stateless components is that they are typically simpler and easier to understand than stateful components. They also make it easier to test and reason about the behavior of your application, because there is no internal state to manage.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, React is a powerful and flexible JavaScript library for building user interfaces, but it’s important to use it in the best way possible to ensure that your applications are performant, maintainable, and scalable. The React best practices outlined in this article can help you to build high-quality and reliable React applications.
