React Best Practices – Step towards Boosting Development Performance

If you are a front-end developer engaged in building interactive user interfaces, you most probably have React in your toolkit. While working on your best creations, you should be acclimatized to React best practices. Even though React is simple to use, project scalability can increase complexity. 

As a developer, understanding how the best React libraries work will help you build more scalable, maintainable, and user-friendly projects.

Therefore, it’s vital to understand some conventions that’ll help you write clean code. In the post below, we’ll talk about ReactJS’ best practices that can boost development performance. 

Adhere to the React Best Practices to Optimize your Coding Approach

Maintain Proper Folder Structure – Easy to navigate with Proper Files & assets hierarchy

When you create a React project, the first step is to define a project structure. It is one of the react structure best practices. The folder structure will help you understand file arrangement and the different assets used in the project. 

With a good structure – it’ll become easy to navigate, saving time. The folder structure differs based on project needs. Here is an example of grouping similar files:

hooks/

useFetchData.js

usePostData.js

components/

Dashboard.js

Dashboard.css

Home.js

Home.css

Blog.js

Blog.css

If you can understand how to maintain proper folder structure – you are good to go. 

Use Small & Function-specific Components – Simpler to read & Comprehend

Most developers are aware that React allows the development of huge components, performing various tasks at once. However, it’s important to structure them so that each one can perform a specified purpose. 

It is one of the React best practices to keep the component modest. Using the framework, developers can produce reusable UI components. 

Smaller components are simple to comprehend in functionality and are easy to update. As a result, developers can improve the code’s usability. Moreover, if the component is short, it makes it easier for developers to adjust the codes. 

Avoiding Repetitive Code – Eliminate the Code Duplication

One of the React best practices is to keep the code as brief as possible. If you notice you are writing duplicate code, convert it into reused components. 

You can do this by scrutinizing the code for similarities and patterns. Most likely, rewriting the code can make it more brief. For instance, if you want to add multiple buttons that contain icons, you can use the icon button component. Plus, you can map everything into a single array. 

const buttons = ['facebook', 'twitter', 'youtube'];

return (

  <div>

    {

      buttons.map( (button) => {

        return (

          <IconButton

            onClick={doStuff( button )}

            iconClass={button}

          />

        );

      } )

    }

  </div>

);

Proper Naming Conventions – Improvement to Code Readability

Naming conventions are a great way to improve code readability. Not only component names, it applies to variable names as well. 

However, React documentation has no official pattern for naming components. The most popular conventions are – PascalCase and Camelcase. You can use Pascalcase for components like:

import React from 'react';

function StudentList() {

  return (

    <div>StudentList</div>

  )

}

export default StudentList

The above component name StudentList is more readable than the student list. 

Example of Camelcase naming convention:

const [firstName, setFirstName] = useState("Ihechikara");

const studentList = [];

const studentObject = {};

const getStudent = () => {}

Wisely Using Linter – Approach towards Code-quality Enhancement

Most developers use the Linter tool, which helps improve the code quality. One of the most popular Linter tools for React is ESLint. It can help with consistency in the code base. Moreover, you can set developer rules that include requirements for double quotes instead of single ones. 

Additionally, it may include braces around arrow functions, naming conventions, etc. The tool observes the code and notifies when the rule breaks. Plus, the keyword that breaks the rule is marked in red. Linter tools can help with code uniformity. It can help fix bugs automatically as you code. 

Also Read : Whats new in React 18: Features and Update from Our Experts

Use Fragments Not Divisions – Decreased Load, Increased Performance

If the code is returned by a React component – it should be wrapped in a singular tab. Also, this can be one of the React JS best practices.

A <div> fragment is common in the process, but using a React fragment will give better results. It will decrease the load and increase the project’s performance. 

Besides, every <div> or tag accessory is added memory. 

Consequently, the more number of <div> means more memory and more power. It may add load to the website, which will take time. Using divisions can result in poor user experience and slow site speed. 

JavaScript Destructing – Eliminating Redundancy

Destructing is a feature that divides data chunks from an object and assigns them to other formed variables that developers use. In the later stage, you can apply fresh variables to components, and arguments may be sent between child and parent components. 

Here is a code example where values repeat four times:

import React from "react";

export default class App extends React.Component {

state = { value1: 2, value2: 5, value3: 6, value4: 8 };

render() {

return <Total values={this.state} />;

}

}

function Total(props) {

return (

<h2>

sum:{" "}

{props.values.value1 +

props.values.value2 +

props.values.value3 +

props.values.value4}

</h2>

);

}

Using JavaScript restructuring to eliminate redundancy –

const {value 1, value 2, value 3, value 4} = props.values;

Function Total(props){

const {value 1, value 2, value 3, value 4} = props.values;

Return <h2> Total: { value 1 + value 2 + value 3 + value 4 } </h2>;

}

Leverage React Developer Tools – one-stop Solution for Developers

Talking about React best practices, leveraging React developer tools is essential. It can help to comprehend different states, props, children, and component hierarchies. 

Moreover, it can help in debugging the code. The best part is that developers can construct interactive UI with the React developer tools. Plus, new updates and features are being added to the React development tools. 

Always Keep Your React Updated – Enhance your Solutions with every upgrade

It’s vital to stay updated with new functions and versions of React. You can keep track of official documentation to keep a tab on updates. Besides, you can join different online React communities or social media communities to get informed about the new changes. 

Staying updated with the current version will help to determine when to make changes to code for efficient performance. External libraries must be updated to complete optimization. 

Snippet libraries – Pacing Up Development Process

Snippet libraries provide pre-built codes to ace the development process. While writing code, a developer can use the best syntax, and you can use the syntax updated by using code snippets.

Moreover, it helps ensure that your code is bug-free. For this reason, you can employ React with Redux and JS snippets, which will also help improve the efficiency of the project. You can use other extensions with helpful commands for generating pre-built codes. 

Combining CSS With JavaScript – Technique to prevent heavy load issues

Using different style sheets for each component can make the file structure heavy and hard to navigate. One solution to this issue is combining CSS with JavaScript. Also, you can use frameworks like Emotion and Tailwind CSS for this, for example:

<p className="font-bold mr-8">resource edge</p>

The para element will have a bold font, and it adds a margin on the right. Most developers use utility features for this. 

Implementing Lazy Loading – Approach towards Enhancing the Loading Time

Lazy loading is a design pattern that helps reduce the load time by allowing portions of your apps to load when significant. Plus, the feature is useful as your React app scales. 

For instance, you may load the modules as parts needed for login and registration, and the remaining components may load based on user navigation. Moreover, some developers implement lazy loading on videos and images. Lazy loading enhances the loading time. 

Manage & Test Your Code – Achieving Error-free Codes

One of the React Best Practices is to test the code during development. Though testing is not a big deal, it does come with benefits like – 

• Detecting errors and bugs.
• Unit tests can be documented for future reference and data collection.
• Bug-free apps can earn loyalty from the audience, leading to growth. 
• You can run React apps in the browser and test them as you create them. Any error would flash on the screen. 

Opt for Faster & Secure Hosting Provider – Best Approach for Smooth & Secure Website Functioning

You can use different tools to manage and scale your site when you host the site. The files on your system can be saved on the server the server hosts the site. 

The best part of hosting the site is that others can view the things you’ve created. Most platforms like – Firebase and Github pages provide free hosting services to developers. Also, there are premium providers like Bluehost, AWS, and Azure.

Harikrishna Kundariya

CEO, eSparkBiz

Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, chatbot and blockchain savvy, designer, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz @Software Development Company where you can Hire Software Developers. His 14+ experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on Web app development.