🇬🇧 CityJS London 2026

A Decade and Counting: React’s Rhapsody of Life

React has been shaping how we build user interfaces for over a decade. But its journey hasn’t exactly been smooth. From early skepticism about JSX and “mixing HTML with JavaScript” to debates over hooks, concurrency, and RSC, React has sparked more controversy and innovation than almost any other library in the web ecosystem.

In this talk, we’ll revisit the past that led to React’s creation, explore the many “trouble in paradise” moments that challenged the community, and look at what’s coming next. Along the way, we’ll uncover the deeper ideas behind React—composition, predictable data flow, and powerful abstractions—and reflect on what a decade of React can teach us about the evolution of software itself.

Transcript

1. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE • APRIL 17, 2026. Hello, London! 👋 🇬🇧
2. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator
3. PAST FUTURE LESSONS LEARNED TROUBLE IN PARADISE
5. The Past A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
6. What were you up to before React? A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
7. THE PAST: THE WEB — THE FORMATION OF FRAMEWORK WAVES FROM THE EPICENTER • SARAH DRASNER
8. THE PAST: THE WEB
9. THE PAST: THE WEB
10. What were you up to before React? A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
11. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
12. ↝ CLIENT-SIDE MVC FRAMEWORK. ↝ COMBINED EXISTING TOOLS TO HANDLE THE COMPLEX INTERACTIVITY OF PRIMITIVE FACEBOOK TIMELINES, CHAT, NEWS FEEDS, AND OTHER ADVANCED APPLICATIONS. ↝ INTRODUCED SOME APIS AND FEATURES THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY MAKE THEIR WAY INTO REACT INCLUDING render, createClass, AND refs. THE PAST: BOLTJS — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
13. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
14. ↝ SAME PROBLEMS SOLVED IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY. ↝ MUCH MORE FUNCTIONAL WITH NO MVC ARCHITECTURE. ↝ INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF RE-RENDERING WHEN SOMETHING IN THE UI HAS CHANGED. ↝ FUNDAMENTALS WERE BORN: PROPS, STATE AND THE BASIC CONCEPT OF COMPONENTS. THE PAST: BOLTJS — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
15. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
17. “With React you can build applications without even thinking about performance and the default state is fast.” Pete Hunt (2013)
18. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
19. Guillermo Rauch (2015) “With this model in place, the programmer is thus relieved from the burden of specifying the transition between states (or transformation) of the UI over time.”
20. — WHY REACT ISN'T DYING • DOMINIK (@TKDODO)
21. — REACT.JS: THE DOCUMENTARY • HONEYPOT
22. Trouble in Paradise A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
23. “YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT OF…” REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
24. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
25.  Dan Abramov (2015) “I’ve seen React misunderstood by smart people more often than any other JavaScript library. React is packed with ideas that were radical at the time of its introduction. This created an air of controversy that still hasn’t quite dissolved.”
26. CASE IN POINT: CONCURRENT REACT
27.  Dan Abramov (2015) “After a year of using React and observing people learning it, I can say that the best parts of React are not the ones that made it famous. They’re not virtual DOM, custom event system, server rendering or JSX. Rather, they are a few boring, old and powerful ideas.”
29. ECOSYSTEM FRICTION REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
30. 2016 — STREAMING SSR
31. 2020/21 — CONCURRENT REACT
32. 2022/23 — RSC
33. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT” REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
34. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
35. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
36. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
37. GROWING RESENTMENT REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
38. JSX vs. SOC
39. JSX vs. SOC
40. REACTIVITY
41. HOOKS
42. HOOKS
43. HOOKS
44. CONCURRENT REACT
45. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
46. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
47. GROWING RESENTMENT
48. GROWING RESENTMENT — REACT IS BECOMING A BLACK BOX • JARED PALMER
49. GROWING RESENTMENT
50. Software development continually goes through cycles. #1 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
51. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
52. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
53. …And so do trouble in paradise moments. What’s di ff erent now? #1 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
54. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
55. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
58. React pushed us to the future. #2 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
59. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE OTHER FRAMEWORKS JSX / VIRTUAL DOM / HMR + FAST REFRESH NAT
60. OUR PLATFORM NATIVE SCHEDULER API / EFFECT HANDLERS* RESH COMPON REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE
61. * COMPON REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE
62. OTHER PLATFORMS FLUTTER / JETPACK COMPOSE / LITHO / SWIFTUI / COMPONENTKIT / YOGA LAYOUT / RESWIFT * REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE
63. Before cars, we had no car accidents.
64. COFFEESCRIPT → ARROW FUNCTIONS
65. EMBER → REACT ROUTER
67. The Future A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
68. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
69. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
70. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
71. ↝ OFFSCREEN ACTIVITY COMPONENT ↝ REACT FORGET COMPILER ↝ OPTIMISTIC STATE UPDATES ↝ RESOURCE PRELOADING ↝ TRANSITION TRACING THE FUTURE PRESENT
72. REACT NATIVE A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
73. STATIC HERMES REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
74. ↝ MODIFIES SOME JS SEMANTICS TO ALLOW EFFICIENT SOUND TYPING. ↝ BRIDGES PREDICTABLE C PERFORMANCE WITH JS USABILITY VIA NATIVE AOT COMPILATION. ↝ MIX AND MATCH BYTE-CODE AND NATIVE CODE BASED ON YOUR NEEDS. STATIC HERMES
75. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
76. STATIC HERMES — STATIC HERMES (REACT NATIVE EU 2023 ANNOUNCEMENT) • TZVETAN MIKOV
77. REACT STRICT DOM REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
78. ↝ OPPOSITE APPROACH TO react-native-web. ↝ SMALL POLYFILLS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSLATING ITS APIS TO REACT-NATIVE AND REACT-DOM PRIMITIVES. ↝ LESS OVERHEAD WHEN RUNNING IN BROWSERS. ↝ POWERED BY STYLEX. STATIC HERMES
79. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
80. THE FUTURE
82. Lessons Learned A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
83. React Is a democratic agent for CS knowledge in our realm. DSLs, COMPILERS, CONCURRENCY, FIBERS, EFFECT HANDLERS, IMMUTABILITY… OH MY! #3 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
84. M doesn't necessarily imply N. THERE'S NO SILVER BULLET. IDENTIFY YOUR CORE METRICS. #4 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
85. JSX created a similar feeling among developers worldwide. …IT WAS GOING AGAINST SO MANY BEST PRACTICES THAT IT COULDN'T BE CONSIDERED A GOOD IDEA. #5 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
86. React is still good enough for most of us. NOTHING IS INHERENTLY BROKEN ABOUT IT. ALSO, IT WILL NEED SOMETHING A LOT BETTER THAN REACT TO REPLACE IT. AND WE’RE NOT THERE (YET). #6 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
87. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — DISCUSSION ON: IS VDOM STILL FASTER? • MIKE TALBOT
88. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — SSR-BENCHMARK • EKIN KOC
89. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
90. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
91. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
92. Guillermo Rauch (2015) “In general, comparing libraries or frameworks in terms of features seems inferior to examining the model it imposes on the programmer. The latter will inform you about how well the code will fare over time as the product matures and the team grows, but the former won’t. It will also empower you to foresee what the evolutionary path of the technology looks like.”
93.  Dan Abramov (2015) “Now that we’re not surprised by virtual DOM anymore and it is being adopted by other frameworks and libraries, we can focus on examining React’s true strengths: composition, unidirectional data fl ow, freedom from DSLs, explicit mutation and static mental model.”
94. “[…] composition, unidirectional data fl ow, explicit mutation and static mental model.” — Do we still have these?
95. Reports of a certain tool's death are mostly exaggerated. OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS, LACK OF EVIDENCE AND JUSTIFICATIONS, AND MORE! #7 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
96. “REACT IS DYING” — REACT I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU'RE BRINGING ME DOWN • FRANÇOIS ZANINOTTO
97. “REACT IS DYING”
98. “REACT IS DYING” — NOTES ON THE NETLIFY WEB DEVELOPER SURVEY • LAURIE VOSS
99. “REACT IS DYING” — NOTES ON THE NETLIFY WEB DEVELOPER SURVEY • LAURIE VOSS
100. {SOMETHING} IS DYING — DISCUSSION ON: UNDERESTIMATED PHP • ALEXANDER DYRIAVIN
101. Don't always trust speculations and predictions! AGAIN… REPORTS OF A CERTAIN TOOL'S DEATH ARE MOSTLY EXAGGERATED. #8 of 8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
102. This is me, 12 years ago, showcasing Ionic at an Apple developers meetup telling them that angular would be the future of mobile development.
103. Matheus Albuquerque ↝ 👨💻 STAFF SWE @ MEDALLIA ↝ ⚛ CHAIR @ REACT SUMMIT NYC ↝ ⚡ GOOGLE DEVELOPER EXPERT ↝ 𝕏 YTHECOMBINATOR
104. THAT’S ALL, FOLKS! THANKS! 👋 🇬🇧 QUESTIONS? MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator