Leaving my comment here as well for increased visibility:
Current state of things:
- React is inconsistent
- API is camelCase
Proposed state of things:
- React is inconsistent
- API is camelCase
- `className` -> `class`
Perceived benefits:
> If React was open sourced today, it seems like the pros of allowing class (closer conceptually to what most people expect, less typing for the most commonly used prop) outweigh the downsides (slightly more typing to intercept it — in which cases you'll probably just want the spread operator anyway).
Actual downsides:
- the entire ecosystem that depends on `className` stops working (huge upgrade effort)
- the entire vast body of books, tutorials, examples, code, posts, articles becomes ever so slightly invalid
- the only valid JS remaining is additional typing: `const {class: cls} = props`. Every other possible use-case in plain JS becomes invalid
- React API remains inconsistent, and breaks further assumptions (why `htmlFor` not `for` etc.)
If I were a product manager, my immediate reaction to the change would be: wat?