What React Is and Why It Matters

Why I Wrote This

Migrating to, or choosing, a new foundational technology has significant and lasting implications for projects and teams. The choice of language and framework determines how a team solves problems, their productivity, the agility of the project, and, in some cases, the types of problems that can be easily solved. The technical viability of these tools is incredibly important, and because the decision is so critical to the way teams function, it is essential to have buy-in from everybody at the table—including members of the team that are not developers. The purpose of this book is not to teach you React; there are many excellent resources for that. Instead, its goal is to help explain some of React’s core innovations with as little jargon as possible in an effort to bring a more diverse set of interests into conversations about technology.

React is a fantastic choice for frontend development, but Vue.js, Ember.js, AngularJS, and a number of others are also excellent options, each one making unique compromises and design decisions. As you read, you may find that some concepts apply to more than one of these tools. Often, this is because the amazing people who write and maintain open source software are friends, colleagues, and collaborators—all of whom are facing the same problems, interact in the same communities, and, frequently, converge on the best solutions. This book is not meant to pit one against another; it is just a technical overview. Although some topics ...