Learning React

Kirupa Chinnathambi has spent most of his life trying to teach others to love web development as much as he does.In 1999, before blogging was even a word, he started posting tutorials on kirupa.com. In the years since then, he has written hundreds of articles, penned a few books (none as good as this one, of course!), and recorded a bunch of videos you can find on YouTube. When he isn’t writing or talking about web development, he spends his waking hours helping make the web more awesome as a Program Manager at Microsoft. In his nonwaking hours, he is probably sleeping—or writing about himself in the third person.You can find him on Twitter (twitter.com/kirupa), Facebook (facebook.com/kirupa), or email (kirupa@kirupa.com). Feel free to contact him anytime.

Amazon Reviews of the First Edition This is the best book to get up and running with React.JS I found this book to be an amazing introductory text to learning React. Leveraging creativity interspersed with a bit of humor, the author took complex topics and made it more easily understood. Even when the difficulty ramped up, Kirupa made the dry and mundane almost non-existent. I can't recall once wishing for the book to end. That's tough to do - definitely more art than science. If you're looking for a solid, working understanding of getting up & running with React - this is the book. (January 20, 2017) Great book from start to finish I rarely review books. I don't even remember the last time I reviewed a book. I may have never reviewed a book in my life. In any event, I felt obligated to review this book because it was so well written. I've ready many programming books on many languages and this one is the only one to keep my attention all the way to the end. Every chapter builds upon the previous one. It starts out elementary and then works its way through more complex ideas. I understand JavaScript but this book explained to me how React works. The author is a born teacher and I appreciate his efforts! Thank you. (June 8, 2017) Absolutely amazing Absolutely blown away with how good of a book this is. I've been trying different tutorials, along with a couple of paid video courses. The video courses were fairly good, but they started off with complex projects and built them from the ground up. While it was cool to see how a complex app is actually built with React, there is no replacement for how Kirupa has figured out how to explain everything so simply. One difference here is that he starts with the very minimal things you need to know, explains those, and then expands to something a little more complex in the next chapter. This, combined with some humor, is just perfect. I've read a lot of IT and development books over the years, and I think this may be the best one I've read. I'm only around halfway done with the book, but wow, again, I'm blown away. I don't generally write reviews much, but I had to on this one. You're a natural teacher man, and thank you for this one! Seriously, thank you. If I could give this one more than 5 stars, I absolutely would. (February 17, 2017) Well Written I cannot comment enough on the readability of this text. Seasoned and rookie web developers should have no problem understanding the subject matter. (March 21, 2017) Makes sense of difficult concepts, and is a fun, easy read This is actually the only tech book I have ever read cover-to-cover. The author is a natural teacher. I tried a different react book and a bunch of online tutorials, and the concepts just didn't "click" for me. But after reading this, I understand it alot better. If you're starting at square one with react, this is square one. Side note: it's also very nicely designed. Shouldn't matter that much for a tech book, but then again we ARE talking about the view layer here! (January 21, 2017) Absolutely love this book Absolutely love this book! I have read other books and I've even taken a video course on React and this is the first time the author actually clearly explains the benefits of React. The other texts assumed the reader knows and jumps right in. I am a big reader and this is by far the best information on learning React that I've found. (January 25, 2018) Great examples, code, and explanations Spectacular job of keeping things simple by only focusing on one point at a time, choosing great examples, and using readable code with well-crafted, simple explanations. Many authors try to achieve this the lazy way- by omitting large amounts of code and relying on the reader to download it and understand it on her own. By contrast, the Learning React author included all of the code in the book and was not afraid to repeat code when it reinforced his point. (May 8, 2018) Excellent primer for React The author does a great job of introducing one concept at a time and then ties it all together. The overall tone of the book makes it easy to read cover to cover in one sitting. (January 31, 2017) Great book for beginners Great book so far. I'm about 25% in and it's already paid off in my React class. Love the friendly writing style, the easy-to-understand code snippets, and the well written explanations. Great job.(January 26, 2018) Skip the command line and learn how to build React apps first I'm learning React (after learning many other languages over the years). This is the single best book I've read to get started with a new language! The author has a terrific sense of humor and a logical progression from front to back. What had been the bane of my existence for React - dealing with setup of Node.js using the command line interface and the many issues I had getting done - he eliminated and put toward the end of the book. I actually got to enjoy going through the book, and try it all out before dealing with the command line. Talk about getting off to a good start! I still have a lot to learn, but I feel confident that I can learn what I need to know. (March 23, 2018) A really great way to learn the fundamentals of ReactJS A really great way to learn the fundamentals of ReactJS. This books really breaks it down barney style and teaches you how to write react with JSX; which is the easiest way to learn the JS library. Buy this book if you are willing to learn the JS library. (September 14, 2017)

• 1 Introducing ReactOld-School Multipage DesignNew-School Single-Page AppsMeet ReactAutomatic UI State ManagementLightning-Fast DOM ManipulationAPIs to Create Truly Composable UIsVisuals Defined Entirely in JavaScriptJust the V in an MVC Architecture2 Building Your First React AppDealing with JSXGetting Your React OnDisplaying Your NameIt’s All Still FamiliarChanging the DestinationStyling It Up!3 Components in ReactQuick Review of FunctionsChanging How We Deal with UIMeet the React ComponentCreating a Hello, World! ComponentSpecifying PropertiesFirst Part: Updating the Component DefinitionSecond Part: Modifying the Component CallDealing with Children4 Styling in ReactDisplaying Some VowelsStyling React Content Using CSSUnderstand the Generated HTMLJust Style It Already!Styling Content the React WayCreating a Style ObjectActually Styling Our ContentMaking the Background Color Customizable5 Creating Complex ComponentsFrom Visuals to ComponentsIdentifying the Major Visual ElementsIdentifying the ComponentsCreating the ComponentsThe Card ComponentThe Square ComponentThe Label ComponentPassing Properties, Again!Why Component Composability Rocks6 Transferring PropertiesProblem OverviewDetailed Look at the ProblemMeet the Spread OperatorA Better Way to Transfer Properties7 Meet JSX...Again!What Happens with JSX?JSX Quirks to RememberEvaluating ExpressionsReturning Multiple ElementsYou Can’t Specify CSS Inline CommentsCapitalization, HTML Elements, and ComponentsYour JSX Can Be Anywhere8 Dealing with State in ReactUsing StateOur Starting PointGetting Our Counter OnSetting the Initial State ValueStarting Our Timer and Setting StateRendering the State ChangeOptional: The Full Code9 Going from Data to UI in ReactThe ExampleYour JSX Can Be Anywhere, Part IIDealing with Arrays10 Events in ReactListening and Reacting to EventsStarting PointMaking the Button Click Do SomethingEvent PropertiesMeet Synthetic EventsDoing Stuff with Event PropertiesMore Eventing ShenanigansYou Can’t Directly Listen to Events on ComponentsListening to Regular DOM EventsThe Meaning of this Inside the Event HandlerReact...Why? Why?Browser CompatibilityImproved Performance11 The Component LifecycleMeet the Lifecycle MethodsSee the Lifecycle Methods in ActionThe Initial Rendering PhaseGetting the Default PropsGetting the Default StatecomponentWillMountrendercomponentDidMountThe Updating PhaseDealing with State ChangesshouldComponentUpdatecomponentWillUpdaterendercomponentDidUpdateDealing with Prop ChangesThe Unmounting Phase12 Accessing DOM Elements in ReactThe Colorizer ExampleMeet RefsUsing Portals13 Setting Up Your React Dev Environment EasilyMeet Create ReactMaking Sense of What HappenedCreating Our HelloWorld AppCreating a Production Build14 Working with External Data in ReactWeb Request 101It’s React Time!Getting StartedGetting the IP AddressKicking the Visuals Up a Notch15 Building an Awesome Todo List App in ReactGetting StartedCreating the Initial UIBuilding the Rest of the AppAdding ItemsDisplaying the ItemsStyling our AppRemoving ItemsAnimation! Animation! Animation!16 Creating a Sliding Menu in ReactHow the Sliding Menu WorksSetting Up the Sliding MenuGetting StartedShowing and Hiding the MenuCreating the ButtonCreating the Menu17 Avoiding Unnecessary Renders in ReactAbout the render MethodOptimizing render CallsGetting an Example GoingSeeing the render CallsOverriding a Component UpdateUsing PureComponent18 Creating a Single-Page App in React Using React RouterThe ExampleGetting StartedBuilding Our Single-Page AppDisplaying the Initial FrameCreating Our Content PagesUsing React RouterIt’s the Little ThingsFixing Our RoutingAdding Some CSSHighlighting the Active Link19 Introduction to ReduxWhat Is Redux?Building a Simple App Using ReduxIt’s Redux TimeLights! Camera! Action!Our ReducerStore Stuff20 Using Redux with ReactManaging React State with ReduxHow Redux and React OverlapGetting StartedBuilding the App