🇺🇸 React Miami 2024

A Decade: React’s Rhapsody of Life

Join me in celebrating the decade-long journey of React—a framework that has revolutionized front-end development.

Despite all the initial skepticism around aspects like JSX, it became one of our favorite tools. We'll explore this and other "trouble in paradise” moments!

Looking ahead, we'll discuss ongoing efforts like the Activity component, optimistic state updates, and more advanced stuff, like the optimization compiler and the recent improvements to React Native's JS engine.

Let's embrace a decade of React and the endless possibilities it holds!

Transcript

1. Hello, Miami! 👋 🇺🇸 🌴 A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE • APRIL 19, 2024.
2. MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
3. Preamble A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE /
5. PAST FUTURE LESSONS LEARNED TROUBLE IN PARADISE
7. The Past A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE /
8. WHAT WERE YOU UP TO BEFORE REACT? A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
9. THE PAST: THE WEB — THE FORMATION OF FRAMEWORK WAVES FROM THE EPICENTER • SARAH DRASNER
10. THE PAST: THE WEB
11. THE PAST: THE WEB
12. WHAT WERE YOU UP TO BEFORE REACT? A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
13. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
14. THE PAST: BOLTJS ↝ 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. — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
15. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
16. THE PAST: FAXJS ↝ SOLVED THE SAME PROBLEMS 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. — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
17. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
19. “With React you can build applications without even thinking about performance and the default state is fast.” Pete Hunt (2013)
20. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE PAST
21. 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.”
22. — WHY REACT ISN'T DYING • DOMINIK (@TKDODO)
23. — REACT.JS: THE DOCUMENTARY • HONEYPOT
24. Trouble in Paradise A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE /
25. “YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT OF…” A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
26. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
27.  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.”
28. CASE IN POINT: CONCURRENT REACT
29.  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.”
31. ECOSYSTEM FRICTION A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
32. 2016 — STREAMING SSR
33. 2020/21 — CONCURRENT REACT
34. 2022/23 — RSC
35. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT” A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
36. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
37. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
38. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
39. GROWING RESENTMENT A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
40. JSX vs. SOC
41. JSX vs. SOC
42. REACTIVITY
43. HOOKS
44. HOOKS
45. HOOKS
46. CONCURRENT REACT
47. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
48. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
49. GROWING RESENTMENT
50. GROWING RESENTMENT — REACT IS BECOMING A BLACK BOX • JARED PALMER
51. GROWING RESENTMENT
52. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE #1 of 8 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUALLY GOES THROUGH CYCLES.
53. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
54. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE
55. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE #1 of 8 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUALLY GOES THROUGH CYCLES.
56. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE #1 of 8 AND SO DO TROUBLE IN PARADISE MOMENTS. WHAT’S DIFFERENT NOW? THROUGH CYCLES.
57. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
58. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
61. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / TROUBLE IN PARADISE REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE. #2 of 8
62. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE OTHER FRAMEWORKS JSX / VIRTUAL DOM / HMR + FAST REFRESH NAT
63. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE OUR PLATFORM NATIVE SCHEDULER API / EFFECT HANDLERS* RESH COMPON
64. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE * COMPON
65. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE OTHER PLATFORMS FLUTTER / JETPACK COMPOSE / LITHO / SWIFTUI / COMPONENTKIT / YOGA LAYOUT / RESWIFT *
66. Before cars, we had no car accidents.
67. COFFEESCRIPT ↝ ARROW FUNCTIONS
68. EMBER ↝ REACT ROUTER
71. The Future A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE /
72. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE
73. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / FAST JSX
74. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / CPU SUSPENSE
75. THE FUTURE PRESENT ↝ OFFSCREEN ACTIVITY COMPONENT ↝ REACT FORGET COMPILER ↝ OPTIMISTIC STATE UPDATES ↝ RESOURCE PRELOADING ↝ TRANSITION TRACING
76. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE REACT NATIVE
77. STATIC HERMES A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / REACT NATIVE
78. STATIC HERMES ↝ 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.
79. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / REACT NATIVE / STATIC HERMES
80. STATIC HERMES — STATIC HERMES (REACT NATIVE EU 2023 ANNOUNCEMENT) • TZVETAN MIKOV
81. REACT STRICT DOM A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / REACT NATIVE
82. REACT STRICT DOM ↝ 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.
83. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / THE FUTURE / REACT NATIVE / REACT STRICT DOM
84. THE FUTURE
86. Lessons Learned A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE /
87. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED #3 of 8 REACT IS A DEMOCRATIC AGENT FOR CS KNOWLEDGE IN OUR REALM. DSLs, COMPILERS, CONCURRENCY, FIBERS, EFFECT HANDLERS, IMMUTABILITY… OH MY!
88. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED #4 of 8 A DOESN'T NECESSARILY IMPLY B. THERE'S NO SILVER BULLET. IDENTIFY YOUR CORE METRICS.
89. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED #5 of 8 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.
90. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED #6 of 8 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).
91. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — DISCUSSION ON: IS VDOM STILL FASTER? • MIKE TALBOT
92. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — SSR-BENCHMARK • EKIN KOC
93. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
94. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
95. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
96. 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.”
97.  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.”
98. “[…] composition, unidirectional data fl ow, explicit mutation and static mental model.” — Do we still have these?
99. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED REPORTS OF A CERTAIN TOOL'S DEATH ARE MOSTLY EXAGGERATED. OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS, LACK OF EVIDENCE AND JUSTIFICATIONS, AND MORE! #7 of 8
100. — REACT I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU'RE BRINGING ME DOWN • FRANÇOIS ZANINOTTO “REACT IS DYING”
101. “REACT IS DYING” — 2022 STATE OF JS
102. “REACT IS DYING” — NOTES ON THE NETLIFY WEB DEVELOPER SURVEY • LAURIE VOSS
103. — NOTES ON THE NETLIFY WEB DEVELOPER SURVEY • LAURIE VOSS “REACT IS DYING”
104. {SOMETHING} IS DYING — DISCUSSION ON: UNDERESTIMATED PHP • ALEXANDER DYRIAVIN
105. A DECADE: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE / LESSONS LEARNED DON'T ALWAYS TRUST SPECULATIONS AND PREDICTIONS! AGAIN… REPORTS OF A CERTAIN TOOL'S DEATH ARE MOSTLY EXAGGERATED. #8 of 8
106. THIS IS ME, TEN YEARS AGO, SHOWCASING IONIC AT AN IOS DEVELOPERS MEETUP TELLING THEM THAT ANGULAR WOULD BE THE FUTURE OF MOBILE DEVELOPMENT.
107. Matheus Albuquerque ↝ 𝕏 ythecombinator ↝ 👨💻 Sr. SWE @ Medallia ↝ ⚡ Google Developer Expert ↝ ⚽ Soccer Fan, BTW
108. THAT’S ALL, FOLKS! THANKS! 👋 🇺🇸 🌴 QUESTIONS? MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator ↑ ALL THE LINKS!