Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Best (physical) book to learn React?

news.ycombinator.com

1–10 of 24 posts

Ask HN: Best (physical) book to learn React?

#1
I’d love to read through a book on React, but I’m surprised at the poor reviews on Amazon. Perhaps I’m looking in the wrong place. Who can point me to a good one (that maybe isn’t sold from Amazon)?

Alternatively, why should I not be considering React? Is everybody using something else these days? Looking to build a front-end to interact with some REST APIs.

Re: Ask HN: Best (physical) book to learn React?

#3
Alternatively, why should I not be considering React? Is everybody using something else these days? Looking to build a front-end to interact with some REST APIs.

React is a decent choice for that. Go ahead and learn it.

If you want to do frontend in 99% of shops - React by itself is not enough. People will tell you it's "just a library" - and that's technically true.

But in the wild you'll be dealing with something I call "Enterprise React". A bloated monstrosity of a web project created with create-react-app (Which is a nightmare of needless complexity under a thin and very slow veneer of convenience). Your react and general coding skills will be secondary to your skills as a sort of npm sysadmin, because best practices are to download a library for every whim anyone ever has.

That is unless you never update it your packages while you are there. Which honestly - I've recently learned - is the smarter career play.

So sure, learn react, make your SPA. But be careful of getting too deep into it, because that way lies madness.

Re: Ask HN: Best (physical) book to learn React?

#7
post #3

Alternatively, why should I not be considering React? Is everybody using something else these days? Looking to build a front-end to interact with some REST APIs. React is a decent choice for that. Go ahead and learn it. If you want to do frontend in 99% of shops - React by itself is not enough. People will tell you it's "just a library" - and that's technically true. But in the wild you'll be dealing with something I…

> Enterprise React

This is my experience exactly with React. I hate it. I advocate for html over the wire (LiveView, Hotwire, htmx, etc) or even just plain html templates (they are not evil!) to whoever will listen. I realize SPA frameworks have a place, but those places occur much less frequently than people suppose (or want).

I'm saving your comment to show people next time I encounter another team mindlessly reaching for React and friends.

Re: Ask HN: Best (physical) book to learn React?

#10
Road to React, is a decent book (and the only one I read), but honestly I would recommend watching a few tutorials instead.

If you worried about outdatedness just try to get a book made after the introduction of React Hooks which should be end of 2018/early 2019. I think the physical Road to React on Amazon isn't updated, don't buy that lol, best to buy the ebook file from that dudes website and read it off of a kindle or something.

Post reply on HN