Tom Occhino, a pivotal figure in React's development at Facebook and now CPO at Vercel, shares the fascinating origin story of React, sparked by innovative UI rendering approaches. Shruti Kapoor, a front-end engineer at Slack, unpacks the exciting new features of React 19, including the React Server Components and enhanced APIs that simplify development. They further discuss the evolution of web application architecture and the growing impact of AI tools on coding efficiency, emphasizing community building and accessibility in tech.
Tom Occhino discusses the revolutionary origins of React, emphasizing its development in response to challenges in managing complex client-side code at Facebook.
Shruti Kapoor outlines major features of React 19, highlighting innovations like React Server Components and enhanced APIs that streamline development workflows.
The podcast explores the evolving synergy between client-side and server-side development, advocating for a balanced approach to improve user experiences in web applications.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Developer Tools with Fly
Fly.io is presented as a platform that allows developers to easily build and deploy applications globally in just five minutes. Unlike traditional platforms like Heroku and Vercel, which may impose boundaries and limitations, Fly provides developers with much more flexibility and control over their applications. The company emphasizes the importance of running apps closer to end users, which was a common frustration for developers using older platforms. For developers of different generations, Fly aims to strike a balance between ease-of-use for quick deployments and deeper capabilities for advanced features.
The Early Days of React
Tom O'Kino shares insights into the founding of React at Facebook, highlighting the collaborative process that emerged from the need for a better way to build web applications. The early days were marked by challenges related to maintaining complex client-side code, which prompted the development of React as a solution for building efficient and manageable UIs. O'Kino details how initial skepticism about React's approach stemmed from the dominant trends of that time, relating to the separation of concerns in web development. However, through further discussions and demonstrations, the team learned to communicate the problems they aimed to solve more effectively.
Shift to Component-Based Development
The conversation shifts towards the significant impact that React had in reshaping how developers approach web applications through component-based development. O'Kino emphasizes that the transition to viewing UIs as composed of independent components marked a pivotal change in the industry, moving away from monolithic architectures. He points out that this change has influenced not just React but a myriad of frameworks that followed, establishing a new standard of building applications around components. This shift has fostered a more organized and manageable coding environment, allowing developers to iterate with confidence.
Challenges in Modern Application Development
In discussing current challenges, O'Kino notes that while single-page applications have enhanced developer experiences, they haven't always delivered optimal user experiences. The reliance on the client for fetching data can create inefficiencies, like loading spinners that impact the performance and responsiveness of applications. He advocates for a balanced approach that leverages both client and server capabilities to improve overall user experience, suggesting that moving certain functionalities back to the server could yield significant benefits. This evolving perspective points to the potential for innovation within the intersection of server-side and client-side development as the landscape progresses.
AI’s Role in the Future of Development
O'Kino addresses the dual role of AI in modern development, acknowledging both its potential benefits and the concerns surrounding it. Developers are increasingly turning to AI tools like Copilot and Cursor to accelerate their coding processes. While he emphasizes that AI can significantly reduce the initial barriers to coding, he warns against relying solely on AI for nuanced coding decisions. This relationship indicates a shift towards a more collaborative view of human and machine programming, where developers harness AI as an assistant rather than a replacement.
Back at React Summit in New York, KBall & Nick sat down with Tom Occhino & Shruti Kapoor for more fascinating conversations.
Tom Occhino, a key figure in React’s history at Facebook (now Meta), reveals the origin story of React, which began when an ads engineer presented a revolutionary approach to web UI rendering. The discussion extends to React’s evolution through Next.js.
Then, Shruti Kapoor breaks down React 19’s major features, including React Server Components (RSC), the new compiler implementation, and enhanced APIs that promise to streamline development workflows.
Changelog++ members save 7 minutes on this episode because they made the ads disappear. Join today!
Sponsors:
Fly.io – The home of Changelog.com — Deploy your apps close to your users — global Anycast load-balancing, zero-configuration private networking, hardware isolation, and instant WireGuard VPN connections. Push-button deployments that scale to thousands of instances. Check out the speedrun to get started in minutes.
WorkOS – AuthKit offers 1,000,000 monthly active users (MAU) free — The world’s best login box, powered by WorkOS + Radix. Learn more and get started at WorkOS.com and AuthKit.com
Jam.dev – One click bug reports developers love — Never explain another bug report again. Jam auto-captures all the info engineers need to debug and repro.
