undefined | Better HN

0 pointsmotorest7mo ago0 comments

> React isn’t just "winning by default" It's winning because at the core it's just JavaScript function composition. A component is a function, conditionals are `if (...) { ... } else { ... }`, loops are `map()`. JSX is just sugar for function calls.

I agree with JSX, and function components are nice, but React is most definitely not just function composition. Hooks add state and introduce life cycle events that take components way beyond stateless territory, to the point that it would be far easier to reason about them if they were class components with properties and decorators and handlers invocable through inversion of control.

0 comments

cjonas7mo ago

So basically react class components? It definitely was not easier in those days.

When your just using vanilla react, I've never had a problem with hooks being that hard to reason about. Once you add in SSR, routers, query caching frameworks, etc the "lifecycle & state" starts to get confusing.

This is mostly a problem with the additional complexity of these frameworks (nextjs, tanstack) and not react at its core. Building an app with just react (and maybe redux) feels so simple and natural once you learn the paradigm.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

cjonas7mo ago

So basically react class components? It definitely was not easier in those days.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse