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Why I moved from Angular to React

robinwieruch.de

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Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#41

Post by lilactown »

gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

It's transitioning from "document-based" reasoning to "component-based" reasoning.

Preferably, all local concerns of a component (not referring to the React component class but the abstract component: a single unit within a larger project) would be in one place. For the front end of a web app this includes structure, styling and behavior. So it makes sense to define the structure (HTML), styling (CSS) and basic behavior (animations, different states it can exist in, etc.) in one place.

React models this using JSX, inline CSS (or CSS loaders) and the React component API.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#42

Post by trumbitta2 »

How many of you developers who use React and say that JSX is the second coming of Jesus, are also able to produce a semantically coherent HTML document with JSX?

It seems to me that React + JSX are perfect for "divitists" and devs who use a h3 because its font-size has the desired value.

I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely can't understand why a good web developer who cares about the meaning of a HTML document should like JSX.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#43

Post by andybak »

shados wrote: post #37
gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

As mentionned already, and as Pete Hunt famously talked about in "Rethinking Best Practices" (you can find it on youtube), you want to separate -concerns-, not technologies. Often there is a 1:1 between those things, but not in modern web development. So we've seen a push toward components that mix technologies, but separate concerns. And it's been great.

This is a great explanation.

People learnt that mixing behavior and presentation was bad but that was a specific case of a more general rule.

In fact - "separation of concerns" is itself a specific example of an even more general rule which is something like "Make code easy to reason about" or "reduce side-effects" or similar. It's hard to give advice that doesn't sound hand-wavy and empty without getting specific. But as soon as you get specific you exclude alternative solutions to the same core problem.

Programming is largely about managing complexity and there are many ways to achieve that. But learning how is a subtle art indeed.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#44

Post by rhinoceraptor »

gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

Is it really easier to reason about a web component/widget when you have to navigate an HTML file and a Javascript file and a CSS file?

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#45

Post by wnevets »

gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

mixing PHP with html & javascript was very bad, mixing javascript with html isn't.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#46

Post by [deleted] »

gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

[deleted]

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#47

Post by disease »

noir_lord wrote: post #32
hakanderyal wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really interested in Elm, it's on my 'things to explore' list. But I've already built a big 'component' library for my designs and style in React, and it's hard to justify a switch to anything else for a long time. And sadly that's the biggest problem the upcoming languages/frameworks face.

Yup, I still use knockout because I have components for nearly everything I do.

Do you mix React and Knockout components by any chance? We are looking at moving from Knockout to React and I was wondering how painful this would be. My guess would be that if you are doing all or most of your KO stuff with components, then the switch shouldn't be too bad.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#48

Post by tomelders »

trumbitta2 wrote: post #42

How many of you developers who use React and say that JSX is the second coming of Jesus, are also able to produce a semantically coherent HTML document with JSX? It seems to me that React + JSX are perfect for "divitists" and devs who use a h3 because its font-size has the desired value. I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely can't understand why a good web developer who cares about the meaning of a HTML document shoul…

Well there's nothing stopping you using the right element for the job. But I would argue that the semantics of HTML, whilst useful in a publication paradigm, don't translate as easily to a web application, which is where React shines. I'd also argue that React is not a good fit for something like a blog, or a news site.

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#49

Post by andrewray »

gvb wrote: post #27

React comes with its own syntax to build components called JSX. In JSX you can mix up HTML and JavaScript. Additionally people often use inline styles in their elements. It is like adding CSS into the mix. This really scares me. We spent a lot of effort removing inline styling from HTML with CSS, and yet it still creeps into our HTML. We also have created a lot of "template" languages (e.g. PHP, Python, ERB, etc.) mi…

You're missing the point of JSX http://blog.andrewray.me/youre-missing-the-point-of-jsx/

Re: Why I moved from Angular to React

#50

Post by lllr_finger »

trumbitta2 wrote: post #42

How many of you developers who use React and say that JSX is the second coming of Jesus, are also able to produce a semantically coherent HTML document with JSX? It seems to me that React + JSX are perfect for "divitists" and devs who use a h3 because its font-size has the desired value. I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely can't understand why a good web developer who cares about the meaning of a HTML document shoul…

I wouldn't argue that it's the second coming of Jesus, but it's been pleasant to work in. React creates HTML from JavaScript, and JSX is a convenient, intuitive, and familiar way to express your code.

I've found that React generates trustworthy HTML, letting me focus on business logic and the interesting parts of development. I've never come across a scenario where React threatened the coherency of my code (other than the data attributes that are now optional, thankfully).

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